- AAP: Kejriwal has defeated 'Operation Lotus'
- AAP: MLAs not present joined over speakerphone
- AAP: All our MLAs accounted for
The political slugfest in Delhi is likely to intensify further as AAP MLAs are meeting at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence here on Thursday to discuss alleged poaching attempts by the BJP.
Sources in the party said all the legislators have been called for the meeting, scheduled to begin at 11am. But at least a dozen of them (MLAs) could not be contacted, reports PTI. Several leaders have, however, reached Kejriwal's house where the meeting is being held.
The AAP has 62 MLAs in the 70-member Delhi Assembly.
The Kejriwal government has also convened a special session of the Delhi Assembly on Friday over CBI, ED probes, raids targeting its ministers and the "poaching" efforts made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The BJP has challenged the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to reveal the names of those who allegedly contacted its MLAs with an offer to switch sides and charged that the Kejriwal-led party is trying hard to divert attention from the Delhi government's liquor "scam".
On Wednesday, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the BJP's attempt to "topple" his government was a "serious issue".
The AAP's political Affairs Committee, that held a meeting at his residence, condemned the BJP's alleged efforts to lure its MLAs. AAP leaders alleged that four MLAs were offered money by the BJP to quit the party.
The ED has registered a money laundering case against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and others to probe the alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise policy after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR that has named Sisodia and 14 others.
The CBI had conducted raids in the 2021-22 excise policy case on August 19 and had covered the residence of Sisodia in Delhi, that of IAS officer and former Delhi excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna and 19 other locations across seven states and Union Territories. Sisodia holds multiple portfolios in the Delhi government including that of excise and education.
The ED will probe if there were alleged irregularities in the formulation and execution of the Delhi Excise Policy unveiled in November last year.
AAP's political affairs committee condemned the BJP's efforts to "poach" its MLAs and asked the saffron party to tell the nation from where it has accumulated money to offer crores to legislators of other parties, party spokesperson Sanjay Singh said on Wednesday.
Speaking to media after the meeting, which was presided by AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Singh said the PAC in its resolution also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spend time on addressing problems of the people instead of making efforts to topple the governments of other parties. "We want to assure the people that the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi is stable. None of our MLAs are going to switch sides and join the BJP," Singh, also a Rajya Sabha MP, told reporters.
Earlier, the AAP had accused PM Narendra Modi of making efforts to topple the Delhi government "by hook or by crook", and also claimed that the BJP approached its four MLAs with an offer of Rs 20 crore to join the saffron party.
