New Delhi: Amid a bitter war of words with the ruling BJP at the Centre over allegations that it was poaching AAP MLAs, Delhi Chief Minister has called a crucial meeting to discuss the issue on Thursday. According to reports, the AAP MLAs are scheduled to meet at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence here at 11 am today to discuss alleged poaching attempts by the BJP.
Sources in the party said all the AAP legislators have been called for the meeting, adding that some of them could not be contacted. It may be noted that Delhi’s ruling party has 62 MLAs in the 70-member Delhi Assembly.
Importantly, 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).
Kejriwal's AAP has also claimed that the BJP approached its four MLAs with an "offer of Rs 20 crore to switch sides or else face the CBI and ED". Kejriwal termed his party legislators' claim a ''very serious matter'' and convened a meeting of the AAP's 11-member political affairs committee (PAC), which condemned the BJP's efforts to topple the Delhi government.
The meeting of the AAP's highest decision-making body, chaired by Kejriwal, noted that the BJP has 'offered?' crores of rupees to poach other parties' MLAs and demanded that the saffron party disclose the sources of the money that it has been spending to topple other parties' governments in various states since it came to power at the Centre in 2014.
In a resolution passed at the meeting, the AAP also appealed to the prime minister to spend his time "addressing people's problems like price rise and unemployment", instead of making efforts to bring down other parties' governments in the country.
The AAP assured the people of Delhi that its government is 'stable? in the national capital, asserting that none of its MLAs will join the BJP. The BJP countered the charges and demanded that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) disclose the names of those who approached their legislators. 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".
The Congress also slammed the AAP government for alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy, and hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia, saying both of them should get Bharat Ratna if there is a new category for corruption.
