AAP Claims Sting Shows BJP Trying to Buy a Legislator

New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has released a 17-minute video to claim that the BJP offered one of its Delhi legislators four crores to switch sides. Mr Kejriwal claimed the sting will be submitted on Tuesday in the Supreme Court where he has petitioned judges to order elections in Delhi. (Watch: Arvind Kejriwal on AAP's Sting Operation)

NDTV cannot independently verify the video or its contents.
 
Delhi has been under central rule for nearly six months, since Mr Kejriwal quit after a 49-day term. Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has recommended that the BJP be invited to form the government because it won the maximum seats in the last election in December.

The BJP and its allies have 29 seats between them and need at least five more. Mr Kejriwal's party has said repeatedly that to bridge the gap, the BJP is offering AAP legislators money and positions as ministers if they agree to defect to the BJP. Today, AAP leader Sourabh Bhardwaj told NDTV that his party has more such videos of BJP leaders. (More Stings Where This Came From, Claims AAP Leader on NDTV)

In the AAP video, the BJP's Sher Singh Dagar meets at his home on Sunday evening with AAP's Dinesh Mohaniya. Mr Dagar did not deny the meeting, but said the video was fake and he had never offered money.

"He (Mohaniya) came to meet me and I never went. There was no talk of money and I did not offer him anything," Mr Dagar said at a press conference.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "Though I have not seen the video, but even if he (Dagar) interacted with the (AAP) MLA, it was in his personal capacity and not as a leader of the BJP."

The BJP, however, has sought an explanation from Mr Dagar.

The Supreme Court had last month asked the Centre to indicate within six weeks whether it will call for fresh elections in Delhi. That notice was based on Mr Kejriwal's petition. AAP believes that in a new election, it will perform well, and alleges that the BJP is avoiding facing the voters because in its first three months in power at the Centre, the party has failed to deliver on fighting corruption and checking rising food prices.