LIVE NEWS FROM DELHI: On Thursday, 53 AAP MLAs out of 62 attended a meeting called by party supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to discuss alleged BJP poaching attempts. The meeting, which was supposed to start at 11 a.m., was over in a matter of minutes. According to reports, all 62 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators in Delhi were contacted ahead of the meeting at Kejriwal’s residence.
According to sources, at least a dozen AAP MLAs have gone silent ahead of the meeting. “We were unable to contact some of our MLAs because they were most likely stuck in traffic, but we want to reassure Delhi residents that the AAP government will not fall. I assure you that all legislators will be present at the meeting “Saurabh Bhardwaj, a senior party leader, told reporters outside the chief minister’s residence.
Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have dismissed the AAP’s “poaching” claim, calling it a “public stunt” by Kejriwal’s party. Manoj Tiwari, a BJP MP, said the AAP is attempting to divert public attention and questioned Kejriwal’s “silence” on the Delhi excise policy. Four AAP MLAs who claimed on Wednesday that BJP leaders approached them with an offer to switch sides said they were told the saffron party was in contact with “20-25 MLAs” of the Kejriwal-led party.
The AAP government has also called a special session of the Delhi Assembly on Friday to discuss the CBI and ED investigations, raids on its ministers, and the BJP’s “poaching” efforts. The saffron party has challenged the AAP to name those who allegedly contacted its MLAs with an offer to switch sides, alleging that the Kejriwal-led party is attempting to divert attention away from the Delhi government”s liquor “scam.”
In the 70-member Delhi Assembly, the AAP has 62 MLAs.
The Kejriwal government has also called a special session of the Delhi Assembly on Friday to discuss CBI and ED probes, raids on its ministers, and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “poaching” efforts (BJP).
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of offering Rs 20 crore to AAP MLAs in order to “bring down” the Kejriwal-led government in the national capital. “The BJP offered to bring down Kejriwal’s government by luring AAP MLAs with Rs 20-20 crores… In Maharashtra Assembly, slogans of ’50 Khokha-50 Khokha’ were raised, so I would say to the BJP Band karo desh se dhokha, nahi chalega 50 khoka,” Bharadwaj said at a press conference in Delhi.
Earlier on Monday, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party offered him a split in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in exchange for a CBI probe into the city’s now-withdrawn excise policy. The BJP had turned down any such proposal. BJP leaders attacked Kejriwal and Sisodia, claiming that the AAP is frustrated because their corruption is being exposed.
The trail of events began last Friday, when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided Sisodia’s home in connection with an alleged liquor scam in Delhi. The Enforcement Directorate has opened a money laundering investigation into the Delhi excise policy. Sisodia was one of fifteen people named in a CBI FIR. Excise officials, liquor company executives, dealers, as well as some unknown public servants and private individuals, have all been arrested in the case.