Amid political turmoil in the Opposition’s INDIA bloc, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has approached seven MLAs of his party and offered them Rs 25 crore to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on saffron party’s ticket.
Taking to X, the Delhi CM said that in the past nine years of the AAP government in Delhi, there have been various attempts to topple the government, but the BJP was not successful in its mission.
‘7 MLA Offered Rs 25 Cr’
“Recently they (BJP) contacted our 7 MLAs in Delhi and said – “We will arrest Kejriwal after a few days. After that, we will break the MLAs. Talks have been held with 21 MLAs. Talking to others also. After that, we will topple the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi. you can also come. Will give Rs 25 crore and contest the elections on BJP ticket.” Although he claims that he has contacted 21 MLAs as per our information he has contacted only 7 MLAs so far and all of them refused,” he wrote on X in Hindi.
पिछले दिनों इन्होंने हमारे दिल्ली के 7 MLAs को संपर्क कर कहा है – “कुछ दिन बाद केजरीवाल को गिरफ़्तार कर लेंगे। उसके बाद MLAs को तोड़ेंगे। 21 MLAs से बात हो गयी है। औरों से भी बात कर रहे हैं। उसके बाद दिल्ली में आम आदमी पार्टी की सरकार गिरा देंगे। आप भी आ जाओ। 25 करोड़ रुपये देंगे…— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 27, 2024
Kejriwal then went on to allege that the BJP government in the Centre is using the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) case in the Delhi Excise policy scam to arrest him so that they can topple the AAP government in Delhi.
“This means that I am not being arrested to investigate any liquor scam but they are conspiring to topple the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi,” he said.
The AAP leader further claimed that BJP will fail in its “nefarious intentions” as the people of Delhi “love AAP immensely”.
“Therefore, it is not in their power to defeat AAP in the elections. So they want to topple the government by arresting them on the pretext of a fake liquor scam,” he added.
‘AAP Has Proof’
Speaking on the development, AAP Minister Atishi claimed that the BJP has initiated ‘Operation Lotus 2.0’ in Delhi and AAP has proof of that.
“The plan is to first arrest Kejriwal and then break AAP MLAs through inducement or threats. We are not scared. If they do so, the people of Delhi will give a fitting reply. Our seven MLAs have been contacted. We have call recordings. We will release them in the appropriate time,” she said.
Trouble In INDIA Bloc
The development came at a time when the Opposition bloc INDIA is on a limb after the AAP in Punjab and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal decided against fighting the Lok Sabha election together.
The bloc’s internal turmoil also seems to have intensified amid strong indications that Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar may do yet another volte-face and return to the BJP-led NDA.
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