BJP has set aside Rs 800 crore to buy 40 AAP MLAs, claims Arvind Kejriwal; questions source of money

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged that the BJP had kept aside Rs 800 crore to buy 40 AAP MLAs in a bid to topple the AAP government, and questioned the source of the money. 

In a tweet, Kejriwal said, “They have kept aside Rs 800 crore to bring down the Delhi government — Rs 20 crore per MLA. The country wants to know, whose money is it, and where is it kept. None of our MLAs will break. The government is stable. The good work in Delhi will continue.”

दिल्ली सरकार गिराने के लिए इन्होंने 800 करोड़ रखे हैं- प्रति MLA 20 करोड़, 40 MLA तोड़ना चाहते हैं

देश जानना चाहता है। ये 800 करोड़ किसके हैं, कहाँ रखे हैं?

हमारा कोई MLA नहीं टूट रहा। सरकार स्थिर है।दिल्ली में चल रहे सभी अच्छे काम जारी रहेंगे

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 25, 2022

After a meeting of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators at his residence, Kejriwal, along with his MLAs, went to Rajghat to pray for the failure of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) "Operation Lotus".

"Even mattresses and walls at my deputy Manish Sisodia's residence were searched by the CBI but not even a single unaccounted penny was found. A day after the CBI's raids, Sisodia was approached by the BJP with an offer of the chief minister's post and to betray Kejriwal. I am lucky to have Sisodia, who has no greed for the chief minister's post," Kejriwal told reporters.

He said people have elected a "hardcore honest" government in Delhi, which will not betray them.

Earlier in the day, the AAP alleged that 40 of its Delhi MLAs were targeted by the BJP with an offer of Rs 20 crore each to switch sides, even as all the 62 of its legislators were accounted for during a meeting at Kejriwal's residence.

The AAP 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 BJP.

The saffron party has challenged the 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".

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said his party has been consistently asking the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to come clean on its excise policy, but the Arvind Kejriwal-led dispensation has been trying every possible trick in the book to divert people's attention elsewhere.

"The fact that they (AAP leaders) have gone to the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi means they have definitely committed an act which is to be considered a sin. So, in order to purify it, the BJP workers will sprinkle Ganga Jal on the Samadhi," Trivedi said.

"The BJP is asking pointed questions. However, the AAP is beating around the bush and evading the questions," he added.