New Delhi, Jan 27 (FN Agency) Alleging that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making attempts to topple government in the National capital, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that BJP offered Rs 25 crore and election tickets to poach its party MLAs. “Few days back, BJP contacted our (AAP) 7 MLAs of Delhi and said that We will arrest Kejriwal after a few days. After that, we will break the MLAs. We have spoken to nearly 21 MLAs and talking to others also. After that we will topple the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi. You can also come. Will give Rs 25 crore and contest the elections on BJP ticket,” Kejriwal posted on X. Although the BJP claims to have contacted 21 MLAs, however, as per our information, they have only reached out to 7 MLAs so far, and all of them have refused to join them, he said. This implies that I am not being arrested for an investigation into any liquor scam, but rather, they are conspiring to topple the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, Kejriwal said. Over the past nine years, they (BJP) have attempted numerous conspiracies to topple our government, but they have not succeeded.
God and the people have always supported us. All of our MLAs are also firmly united. This time also these people will fail in their nefarious intentions. These people know how much work our government has done for the people of Delhi. Despite all the obstacles created by them, we have accomplished so much. The people of Delhi love “AAP” immensely. Therefore, it is not in their power to defeat AAP in the elections. So they want to topple the government by arresting them on the pretext of a fake liquor scam, Kejriwal added. AAP Leader Atishi Marlena has also launched an attack on the BJP poaching the party MLAs, saying that the saffron party is not conducting Operation Lotus for the first time. Addressing the media, Marlena said, “Operation Lotus is the BJP’s strategy to topple the government of states where they fail to form the government.
They attempt to bring down elected governments by offering money, using intimidation, filing cases through agencies like the CBI and ED”. The BJP has executed this Operation Lotus in several states, including Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and others, she said adding, “They have successfully toppled elected governments not just once but in some states multiple times by purchasing legislators, instilling fear, and pressuring them.” The BJP has attempted Operation Lotus twice in Delhi. In 2013, when 28 legislators from the Aam Aadmi Party were elected, the BJP had also tried to buy AAP’s legislators.
At that time, the Aam Aadmi Party exposed BJP’s attempts through a sting operation featuring BJP’s Vice President Sher Singh Dagar, revealing how they were trying to buy AAP’s legislators. Later, in 2022, the BJP made an attempt to buy AAP legislators in Delhi through Operation Lotus, offering them 20-20 crore rupees. However, both times, the BJP’s Operation Lotus failed because AAP legislators are not afraid of BJP’s threats and are not enticed by their temptations, Marlena said. She further asserted, “If Arvind Kejriwal is jailed to bring down the elected government in Delhi, the people of Delhi will respond strongly in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. BJP, which currently has 7 Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, will face a tough challenge in the Lok Sabha election.”