Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged on Saturday that the BJP tried to poach seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs in Delhi, offering them Rs 25 crore to switch sides. He claimed that talks were held with AAP MLAs by the BJP, who allegedly threatened that the Delhi Chief Minister would be arrested soon in the liquor policy case.
The AAP claimed that the BJP leader's conversation has been tape-recorded.
Kejriwal, in a long post on X today, said, "Recently they have contacted our seven MLAs of 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 BJP claims that they contacted 21 MLAs, as per our information, only 7 MLAs were contacted so far and "all of them refused", the Chief Minister said.
Kejriwal further accused the BJP of trying to topple the AAP government in Delhi as they are "powerless" to defeat AAP in elections.
"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. 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 strong together. This time also these people will fail in their nefarious intentions," he added.
"These people 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. 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," Kejriwal asserted.
Delhi Minister Atish also accused the BJP of trying to create political unrest in Delhi.
"In the tape, a BJP leader has called the AAP MLA and is saying Arvind Kejriwal will be arrested. 21 MLAs will be poached and Arvind Kejriwal’s government will be toppled. All AAP MLAs refused the money being offered to them. This is BJP’s SOP. They have toppled governments in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Arunachal," the minister said.
"Where BJP can’t win polls, they keep on attempting to topple the elected government," she said.
BJP DENIES ALLEGATIONS
Rejecting the Delhi Chief Minister's allegations, BJP leader Kapil Mishra said "Arvind Kejriwal is again lying as he has done since the last seven times".
"Not once has been able to tell which phone number was used to contact them, who contacted them, and where was the meeting held. he just gives out statements and goes into hiding... His partners are in jail, and he is repeatedly avoiding ED summons because he knows he does not have answers to the ED questions," Mishra said.
The Arvind Kejriwal's allegations came amid reports that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is preparing to join the BJP-led NDA, ending its ruling alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
