BJP trying to topple govt, alleges Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal has alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party has offered Rs 25 crore to seven of his party MLAs and threatened to topple the government.

In a post on X, Kejriwal wrote that the BJP was aiming to arrest him in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam and break the MLAs of the party.

He has alleged that a BJP functionary recently contacted seven AAP MLAs of Delhi. The BJP member reportedly told the MLAs, “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 AAP government in Delhi. You can also come and contest the elections on a BJP ticket. We will give you Rs 25 crore.”

“Although he claimed that they have contacted 21 MLAs, as per our information, they have contacted only seven MLAs so far and all of them refused (the proposal),” he added.

He further said, “This means that I am not being arrested to investigate liquor scam, but to topple the AAP government in Delhi. In the last nine years, they have hatched many conspiracies to topple our government, but did not succeed. They will again fail in their nefarious intentions this time.”

The CM said despite all the obstacles created by the BJP, the AAP government had accomplished so much. He said even the BJP was aware that they had done a lot of work for Delhi residents, who love AAP.

“They can’t defeat AAP in elections, so they want to topple the government by arresting leaders on the pretext of a fake liquor scam,” Kejriwal said.

Addressing mediapersons, AAP senior leader Atishi said that the BJP was trying to bring down the elected government of Delhi by poaching MLAs.

“This ‘Operation Lotus’ is not being done for the first time by the BJP. It is their way to bring down elected governments in the non-BJP-ruled states. They buy MLAs and threaten them with CBI and ED. The BJP has conducted this operation in many states, including Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, where they have brought down the elected governments,” she added.

The AAP leader said the BJP had tried twice to conduct its Operation Lotus in Delhi. “In 2013, when 28 MLAs of the Aam Aadmi Party were elected, the BJP tried its best to break them and poach them. At that time, the AAP conducted a counter-sting on the BJP and exposed its vice-president Sher Singh Dagar.”

She said that the BJP had offered Rs 20 crore each to AAP MLAs in 2022. BJP’s Operation Lotus failed every time because AAP MLAs were not scared of BJP’s threats and never fell for their offer. Now the BJP has started Operation Lotus 2.0, in which they want to get Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal arrested the so-called liquor scam, she added.

Atishi said, “Today, we are witnessing that BJP spokespersons are holding frequent press conferences, repeatedly stating that Arvind Kejriwal is going to jail.”

She further said, “I want to tell the BJP that leaders and legislators of the Aam Aadmi Party are not afraid of their threats, nor will they succumb to their temptations.”

Atishi told reporters that if Arvind Kejriwal is put in jail to bring down the elected government of Delhi, people of Delhi will give a befitting reply in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.