AAP weighing options if Sisodia is denied bail

After deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was taken into five days’ CBI remand on Monday in the Delhi liquor scam case, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is hoping that the cabinet minister, who has been the backbone of the government, gets bail once his custody ends.

Sisodia is the second most important minister in chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s seven-member cabinet to be taken into custody, months after Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain was jailed. He holds the charge of 18 of the 33 city government departments including key portfolios such as finance.

In case Sisodia is denied bail after five days, will someone be handed over his heavy-duty charge?

A senior party functionary said, “It’s too early to decide on the next step, as the first thing we are trying for is to get him a bail. An application is being filed for the same. The CBI doesn’t have a strong case against him. This is being done at the behest of the Centre, as it’s time for various state polls as well as a crucial year ahead of the 2024 general elections.”

The arrest comes at a time when Delhi’s 2023-24 budget is about to be presented in the third week of March and Sisodia holding the finance portfolio was preparing for the same.

However, party sources said since the arrest was widely anticipated and the first summon came for February 19, all the budget document meetings, besides Sisodia and the CM, had Kailash Gahlot as a key member to attend. Gahlot holds six portfolios including transport, law and revenue being the major ones.

“Gahlot has been attending all important budget meetings, as well as for other important projects, for over the past 10 days. He may be given the charge of finance department in the meanwhile, as only the finance minister can present the budget,” a source said.

Another party functionary said if the CM himself doesn’t take on the finance portfolio before the budget, it is likely that the revenue minister is handed over the charge including other departments. “All this is only a case scenario. If Sisodia ji is granted bail, then this question does not arise. But, it will be clear only over the next five days,” the functionary said.

While Kejriwal has not held a portfolio in this term, he has been busy with political activities and is bound to travel to poll-bound states the whole of next month, beginning with Karnataka on March 4 where he is to lead a massive rally.

Party workers including top leadership held citywide protests on Monday against the arrest.

The deputy CM was not just the face of the government’s major reforms, he ably held 18 of the 33 city government departments, allowing Kejriwal to focus on the party’s expansion plans in other states. After Jain’s arrest, the party did not appoint a new minister, instead all of Jain’s key charges including health and public works department (PWD) were handed over to the deputy CM.

Currently, Sisodia holds most of the key portfolios including — education, health, home, power, finance, PWD, urban development, vigilance, services, water, tourism, land and building (L&Do), labour, industries and employment, besides other departments, that have not been allotted to any other minister.

A number of major infrastructure projects in the Capital including the Ashram flyover as well as schemes announced in last year’s Rozgar budget are still to be implemented, all of which, may take a hit if he goes to jail.

With inputs from News18