The BJP on Saturday dismissed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s accusation that it was attempting to poach AAP legislators in order to topple his administration as “false” and “baseless,” and demanded that he either provide facts to back up his claim or quit.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva chastised Kejriwal for “lying” and challenged him to reveal the names of the MLAs allegedly contacted by the BJP.
“Kejriwal’s statement expresses his political discontent. He claimed that the BJP intends to split his party’s MLAs. This demonstrates his mental breakdown and how frustrated a party with 62 MLAs (out of 70 in the Assembly) is after losing political ground,” he stated.
Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, claimed that Chief Minister Kejriwal had made “false allegations to defame the BJP.”
“He should provide proof of his statement, or he should resign as chief minister,” Bidhuri said, adding that the BJP is engaging legal experts on the topic.
He further claimed that Kejriwal’s aspiration of becoming a big political leader in the country was fading as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity skyrocketed following the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
“The BJP is going to win 400 seats in Lok Sabha polls, so AAP is falsely accusing the BJP of poaching its MLAs,” he told reporters.
The AAP leaders further claimed that the BJP was plotting to get Kejriwal incarcerated in a “fake” liquor fraud case and destabilize his government by poaching AAP MLAs.
Sachdeva stated, “People can see that Kejriwal needs an alliance for survival, since his political standing has fallen ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. So he’s making such ludicrous remarks to keep himself politically relevant.”
The “absurd” allegations made by Kejriwal and other AAP officials, including Delhi minister Atishi, demonstrate that they have lost all discretion before their impending demise, Delhi BJP secretary Bansuri Swaraj said.
“Kejriwal has now run out of excuses to avoid ED investigation in the liquor scam so he has started resorting to lies,” she went on to say.
Kejriwal has so far ignored four notices from the Enforcement Directorate to appear for questioning in connection with a money laundering case relating to his government’s alleged excise policy fraud.
According to Delhi BJP general secretary Kamaljit Sehrawat, there was “unrest” among AAP MLAs and MPs, and Kejriwal was accusing the BJP “due to frustration with his own people”.
“Kejriwal is levelling wild allegations against the BJP to divert attention from the way opposition bloc Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was breaking apart in different states,” alleged Delhi BJP media cell head Praveen Shankar Kapoor.
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