Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's (KCR) daughter and state MLC K Kavitha announced on Monday, 22 August, that she would file a defamation suit against two BJP leaders for their "baseless claims" about her involvement in the alleged multi-crore liquor policy scam in Delhi.
"The allegations made on me by the BJP and its party people are completely baseless...They have all the agencies in their hands, they can do whatever investigation that is required. We will completely cooperate," she said, according to NDTV.
Kavitha further said that BJP was trying to malign her family's reputation because they were "rattled" by KCR's "vocal and sharp criticism" of the BJP-led Union government.
She will also reportedly move the court seeking an injunction order against those making the allegations.
"You (BJP) are messing with the wrong people," she added.
BJP MP Parvesh Varma and former MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa, on Sunday, alleged that Kavitha had been present in the purported meetings convened by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia with the liquor mafia, other ministers, and officers.
Sisodia, along with 16 others, is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for reported financial lapses in the new liquor policy of the Aam Admi Party-led Delhi government.
What Else Did the BJP Say?
Verma and Sirsa, in a press conference, further demanded that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal explain the relationship between Manish Sisodia, K Kavitha, and the alleged members of the liquor mafia – Dinesh Arora, Vijay Nayar, and Vijay Arora.
"The meeting was done in Oberoi Hotel in Delhi. The Delhi Excise officer, commissioner, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, some liquor mafia, and some political persons were the attendants of the meeting. KCR's family members were present in the meeting," Verma said.
"She had brought many members of the liquor mafia to meet Manish Sisodia. They came on a private plane. They had implemented the policy in Punjab. They had planned everything along with Arvind Kejriwal and Sisodia," he added.
The Case Against Sisodia
The CBI named Sisodia as the principal accused in the case pertaining to the irregularities in the excise policy of the Delhi government.
The case was registered under sections related to criminal conspiracy in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The case listed 16 accused in its FIR on the alleged excise scam, following the CBI's 12-hour-long raids at the AAP leader's residence on Friday.
The FIR says that Sisodia, then Delhi Excise Commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna, and two other senior excise department officials were "instrumental in recommending and taking decisions pertaining to excise policy for the year 2021-22 without approval of competent authority with an intention to extend undue favours to the licencees post tender."
(With inputs from NDTV.)
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