Amid the ongoing power tussle between the ruling AAP and BJP in Delhi, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday reposed “full faith” in Aam Aadmi Party MLAs and called for a confidence motion in the legislative assembly to show the strength of his government.
The reaction came a day after several reports emerged that some AAP MLAs went incommunicado ahead of a crucial meeting at Kejriwal’s residence on Thursday. However, 53 out of 62 AAP MLAs attended the meeting. According to sources, all 62 legislators were contacted ahead of the meeting.
Meanwhile, the special session of the Delhi legislative assembly was extended by a day as the ruling party requested to bring in a confidence motion on Monday. Kejriwal said he was bringing this confidence motion to prove that no AAP MLA has defected. In a dig at the saffron party, the chief minister said “Operation Lotus had turned into Operation Keechad” as the BJP’s attempt to “buy off” party MLAs had been unsuccessful.
The special session was called after the AAP alleged that the BJP was trying to lure its MLAs to topple the Kejriwal-led government in the national capital. This was after recent CBI raids at deputy CM Manish Sisodia’s house in the liquor policy scam case.
Kejriwal, on the floor of the House, said he would like to bring in a confidence motion to show that the BJP was unable to buy off even a single AAP MLA. He said he received phone calls asking him if everything was alright within the party.
“It is being said they (BJP) broke away a number of MLAs. I received phone calls, people asked me if everything is alright. I’d like to bring a confidence motion in House to show people that not even one went away, that the BJP’s Operation Lotus became ‘Operation Keechad’ here,” Kejriwal said.
He further said the AAP had calculated that the BJP had bought off 277 MLAs across the country, while alleging “that’s why there’s inflation”. “We’ve calculated that 277 MLAs have come to their party (BJP), now if they would’ve given Rs 20 crore to each MLA then they’ve bought MLAs worth Rs 5,500 crore. That’s why there’s inflation as they’re using all the money to buy MLAs at the expense of the common man,” the Delhi CM added.
Kejriwal also said all the “anti-national forces” had come together against the Delhi’s AAP government as it was “the most popular”. He added that the BJP will concoct some or the other case to target the AAP till the Gujarat assembly elections. “These forces want to break us but all our MLAs are together. They’ll fabricate false cases against us till Gujarat polls,” he said, adding that the BJP had toppled several governments to date — Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya.
Kejriwal also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech during the special assembly session, alleging that the recent raids against Delhi ministers are linked to the polls in Gujarat. “The BJP’s fortress in Gujarat is under threat and is crumbling now. ED, CBI raids on us are due to the upcoming polls in Gujarat,” he alleged.
(With inputs from agencies)