New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi has called for a special session of the Assembly on Friday amid the huge political row over their charge that the BJP is trying to bring down the elected government by breaking the party. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is also the AAP chief, has summoned all the MLAs of the party tomorrow. The summons came after a meeting of the party's political affairs committee this evening. AAP, which won a sweeping victory in the 2020 assembly elections, has 62 of Delhi's 70 assembly seats.
Following raids on Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia regarding Delhi's liquor laws, AAP has claimed that the BJP is attempting to overthrow the Delhi government the way they toppled the Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra.
Manish Sisodia has claimed that he was approached by the BJP, who offered him the Chief Minister's post. In case he quit the party, they promised that all cases against him will be withdrawn, he said.
"Some MLAs have told me that they have been threatened, offered bribes to break the party. This is a very serious matter," he told reporters earlier today.
AAP's national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said Ajay Dutt, Sanjeev Jha, Somnath Bharati and Kuldeep, were offered Rs 20 crore each if they join the BJP and Rs 25 crore "if they bring other MLAs with them".
Earlier today, the four AAP MLAs were present at a press conference.
Senior AAP leader Somnath Bharati, a former minister, said: "They said they know cases against Sisodia are fake, but the senior leaders have decided to bring down AAP... A BJP leader told me that no matter what, we will bring down the Delhi government."
AAP has accused the BJP of instigating the CBI raids against Mr Sisodia after international recognition for the party's achievement in the education and healthcare sectors. The trigger, they said, was an article in the US daily New York Times.
The BJP, the party claimed, is also upset about the growing popularity of AAP in Gujarat. Mr Kejriwal, who is on his fifth visit to the state in the run-up to the assembly elections due later this year, said yesterday that while they were expecting Mr Sisodia to be arrested, that even might occur within "two-three days" given the support in Gujarat.