BJP trying to influence our councillors, claims Sisodia

‘BJP’s game has begun. Our newly elected councillors have started receiving phone calls. None of our councillors will be sold. We have told all our councillors that if they get a phone call or if someone comes to meet them, they should record those calls and meetings,’ said the Delhi deputy chief minister

Hours after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged victorious in the MCD elections, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to poach newly elected councillors from his party.

Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi along with deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh at AAP Headquarters, on DDU Marg in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The AAP on Wednesday won 134 of the 250 seats in the civic body polls, ending the BJP’s 15-year rule of the MCD. The contest, however, was closer than the exit polls had predicted, with the BJP, which pollsters said would suffer a massive defeat, putting up a spirited fight and winning 104 wards.

After the poll results were announced, Sisodia claimed that AAP councillors have begun receiving phone calls from the BJP. “BJP’s game has begun. Our newly elected councillors have started receiving phone calls. None of our councillors will be sold. We have told all our councillors that if they get a phone call or if someone comes to meet them, they should record those calls and meetings,” he tweeted in Hindi.

To be sure, the anti-defection law--which seeks to ensure that law-makers do not switch sides during a vote-- does not apply to the mayoral elections, so there is no bar on cross-voting. Thus, even the single largest party may not necessarily win the mayor’s seat. However, the mayor is a ceremonial head, like that of a Speaker of a legislative body, and the real power is wielded by the Standing Committee.

In response to the allegations, the BJP accused Sisodia of “indulging in illogical talk” as the AAP had lost three of the four seats in his assembly constituency of Patparganj to BJP’s candidates.

“Manish Sisodia is indulging in all this illogical talk just to avoid answering the question of the day -- why did the kattar imandar (staunchly honest) man lose three of the four wards in his assembly constituency?” said Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor.