Or face ‘false’ CBI, ED cases: BJP accused of trying to ‘buy out’ AAP MLAs

On August 24, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had contacted four of its MLAs in Delhi and urged them to defect to the saffron party in order to avoid "false cases, the CBI, and the ED".

“Some AAP MLAs have told me that they are being threatened to quit the party; This is a serious matter,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said.

AAP's national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh stated at a news conference that leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with whom they have "friendly connections", have contacted the legislators Ajay Dutt, Sanjeev Jha, Somnath Bharati, and Kuldeep.

"They have been offered ₹20 crore each if they join the party and ₹25 crore if they bring other MLAs along with them," Singh said.

"They (BJP leaders) told our MLAs that if they do not accept the offer and join the BJP, they will also have to face false cases, the CBI and the ED like (Delhi Deputy Chief Minister) Manish Sisodia is facing," he added.

In order to overthrow the Arvind Kejriwal administration in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to win over AAP MPs to the BJP "by hook or crook", Singh said. At the news conference were the four AAP MLAs who have allegedly been approached by the BJP.

Referring to the excise policy of Delhi, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said on August 23 that directors and stakeholders of the companies associated with liquor could not be the same.

"According to the excise policy of Delhi, the producer, retailer and distributor of liquor cannot be one. Not only this, the directors and stakeholders of the companies associated with them cannot be the same," said Trivedi while addressing the media at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.

He also claimed that on October 25, 2021, some similar cases were brought to the notice of the government by the Excise Department of Delhi in which producers, retailers and distributors were alike but no action was taken on it.

(With agency inputs)