Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to "buy" seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs with an offer of Rs 25 crore each in a bid to destabilise his government in the national capital.
Mr Kejriwal claimed that the BJP engaged in talks with the AAP legislators and purportedly threatened imminent arrest for the Delhi Chief Minister in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case. The alleged conversation involved a sinister plan to topple the AAP government in Delhi.
In a long social media post, the Delhi Chief Minister alleged, "Recently, they [BJP] has contacted 7 of our 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.'"
पिछले दिनों इन्होंने हमारे दिल्ली के 7 MLAs को संपर्क कर कहा है - “कुछ दिन बाद केजरीवाल को गिरफ़्तार कर लेंगे। उसके बाद MLAs को तोड़ेंगे। 21 MLAs से बात हो गयी है। औरों से भी बात कर रहे हैं। उसके बाद दिल्ली में आम आदमी पार्टी की सरकार गिरा देंगे। आप भी आ जाओ। 25 करोड़ रुपये देंगे…
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 27, 2024
Despite the claim of contacting 21 MLAs, Mr Kejriwal insisted that the information available to the AAP suggests that only seven MLAs have been approached, and all of them have firmly declined the tempting offer.
"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," Mr Kejriwal stated. "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."
Mr Kejriwal added that the alleged attempts to destabilise his government are driven by the AAP's good work in the national capital. Despite various obstacles, Mr Kejriwal added, the people of Delhi hold immense love for AAP, making it difficult for the BJP to defeat them in elections.
AAP's chief National spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar alleged that the BJP is hatching "dirty conspiracies" to topple Kejriwal government as it has been unable to win elections in Delhi.
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