The political brawl between the Aam Aadmi Party government government and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party got more dramatic here on Thursday, August 25, 2022, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal leading prayers at Rajghat accompanied by over 50 AAP MLAs.
The show of strength at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial followed an informal floor test at Mr. Kejriwal’s residence where all the party’s MLAs — excluding 8 who were unavailable physically but joined via their phones — were present.
Also read: AAP govt. looking for scapegoat for own wrongdoing: BJP
The BJP termed the episode a “flop show” based on a “rundown script” and questioned the AAP and its national convenor’s silence on the alleged multi-crore excise policy scam accusing him of resorting to diversionary tactics as a last resort.
“Our MLAs have been getting calls offering them money and positions to break the AAP and let the government fall. Each MLA has been offered ₹20 crore each. But I am happy to say that not even a single one of them chose to desert us,” CM Kejriwal said attacking the BJP following the visit.
“We just offered prayers at Rajghat for a better atmosphere in the country where governments are being toppled like this. These allegations are rubbish; they can’t even tell us how much this alleged scam is worth. The real scam is offering crores to 40 of our MLAs to switch sides,” he alleged.
Why should a single-digit party buy MLAs: BJP
Responding to the allegations, West Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Verma asked why a party in ‘opposition with single digit seats would seek to “buy MLAs” and if so, how many could it possibly wean away.
“If we even suppose that the BJP is actually trying to buy AAP MLAs, why would it do that now when it has 8 legislators in the city after not doing so in the past when once the AAP had 28 MLAs itself?” he asked.
North east Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari accused Mr. Kejriwal of spewing lies on a daily basis. “You are supposed to talk about the excise policy; your silence has made the people understand how much money you’ve siphoned off through it,” he alleged.
Published - August 25, 2022 02:10 pm IST
