BJP trying to topple Delhi Govt, charges Kejriwal; may sue chief minister, says BJP

Kejriwal’s allegations appeared on X soon after cabinet minister Atishi levelled similar allegations at a press conference.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had offered ₹25 crore each to seven MLAs of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in an attempt to topple his government evoking sharp reactions from the BJP which termed the claim as “absurd and baseless” while threatening to sue the Delhi CM over his defamatory statement.

Kejriwal on Saturday posted on X that seven of his party MLAs had been contacted and warned he would be arrested soon. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

Kejriwal on Saturday posted on ‘X’ that seven of his party MLAs had been contacted by “them” and warned that he would be arrested soon. “Recently they (BJP) have contacted our 7 MLAs of Delhi and said – ‘We will arrest Kejriwal after a few days and then break the MLAs. Talks have been held with 21 MLAs, and we are talking to others as well. After that we will topple the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi. You should also come. Will give ₹25 crore and field you as BJP candidate in election’. Although they claim that they have contacted 21 MLAs, as per our information they have contacted only 7 MLAs so far and all of them (7 MLAs) declined the offer,” Kejriwal said in the post.

Kejriwal added that all the seven AAP MLAs refused to quit the party.

Addressing a press conference, leader of opposition in Delhi assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri demanded that Kejriwal should provide evidence of the allegations he had levelled or resign from his post. He added that the BJP was exploring legal options to sue the Delhi chief minister for defamation.

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“Arvind Kejriwal has made false allegations only to defame the BJP. AAP leaders have made absurd and baseless allegations on poaching of MLAs about a dozen times but till date no evidence has been presented. This time too this baseless allegation has been made. Everyone knows that Arvind Kejriwal is the mastermind of the liquor scam. ED is repeatedly summoning him for questioning but he is not appearing before the agency and is making allegations out of frustration,” Bidhuri said in the press conference organised at the at BJP office.

Kejriwal has been summoned four times by the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in the money laundering allegations related to the Delhi excise policy case. The AAP chief has so far not appeared before the agency. Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and party MP Sanjay Singh are in jail over alleged money laundering allegations in the implementation of the policy.

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The AAP chief’s allegations appeared on X soon after senior Delhi cabinet minister Atishi levelled similar allegations at a press conference held at AAP headquarters in New Delhi.

“The BJP leader told seven AAP MLAs that Arvind Kejriwal is going to be arrested….” Atishi said, adding that the BJP has launched “Operation Lotus 2.0”.

Asked on what basis the allegations were being made, the Delhi minister said they have an “audio recording” of a BJP leader talking to an AAP MLA informing him about the “likely arrest of Kejriwal and the MLAs’ poaching plans”. Atishi said that the audio recording will be made public in a few days. Atishi claimed that the the BJP leader said Kejriwal was going to be arrested, and they will topple the AAP government after his arrest.

“BJP is not doing Operation Lotus for the first time. The BJP uses the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation], and ED and runs Operation Lotus to topple opposition governments in various states such as Maharashtra, Goa, and Madhya Pradesh. In Delhi, the BJP has attempted this twice. In 2013, the BJP tried to poach AAP MLAs, and in 2022 again, they offered Rs.20 crore each to AAP MLAs but could not succeed,” said Atishi.

The AAP did not disclose the name of the BJP leader whose voice was on the audio tape. The party also did not name the seven MLA, who it claimed, were offered money in exchange for toppling the state government.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva hit back at the AAP, and said that Kejriwal’s allegations show his “political frustration”.

“The allegations show how Kejriwal has grown desperate despite leading a party which has 62 of the 70 members in the assembly. It shows his mental bankruptcy. Kejriwal is looking for an alliance for his survival as his political ground has slipped and therefore, he is making absurd statements,” said Sachdeva.

Kejriwal also said that the conspiracy to arrest him has been hatched not because of “involvement in a scam” but to topple the Delhi government.

“It 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. In the last nine years, they hatched many conspiracies to topple our government. But they did not get any success. God and the people always supported us. All our MLAs are also strongly together. This time also these people will fail in their nefarious intentions,” Kejriwal said in the X post.

“They know how much work our government has done for the people of Delhi. Despite all the obstacles created by them, we have accomplished so much. The people of Delhi love AAP immensely. They (the BJP) are not capable of defeating the AAP in the elections, so they want to topple the government by arresting (me) on the pretext of a fake liquor scam,” the chief minister said.

Other AAP leaders, including Durgesh Pathak, Dilip Pandey and AAP chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar also addressed separate press conferences throughout the day in which they claimed that the AAP MLAs have rejected the BJP’s offer and asserted that all “AAP MLAs are with Arvind Kejriwal”.

AAP MLAs such as Bijwasan Bhupinder Singh Joon, Chandani Chowk MLA Parlad Singh Sawhney and Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar later posted on X that they are with Arvind Kejriwal.