"7 AAP MLAs threatened, offered Rs 25 crore," Arvind Kejriwal alleges BJP trying to topple AAP government in Delhi
New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has alleged that BJP was conspiring to topple the Aam Aadmi Party government and that some of his party MLAs had been offered bribes to leave the party and break his government.
Taking to microblogging site X, Kejriwal posted, "Recently, they (BJP) have contacted our 7 MLAs from Delhi and said-We will arrest Kejriwal after a few days. After that, we will break the MLAs. Talks have been held with 21 MLAs. Talking to others as well. After that, we will topple the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi. You also come, we will give you Rs 25 crore and get you to contest the elections on BJP ticket."
"Although they claim that they have contacted 21 MLAs, but as per our information, they have contacted only 7 MLAs so far and all of them have refused," Kejriwal said.
The Delhi CM said that this means that "I am not being arrested to investigate any liquor scam, but they are conspiring to topple the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi."
"In the last nine years, they have hatched many conspiracies to topple our government. But they did not have any success. God and the people always supported us. All our MLAs are also strongly united. This time also, these people will fail in their nefarious intentions," Kejriwal said.
The Delhi CM further claimed in his post that the BJP knows how much work the AAP government has done for the people of Delhi, and despite all the obstacles created by BJP, the AAP government in Delhi has 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 making arrests on the pretext of a fake liquor scam," said the post by Kejriwal.
Earlier this month, Kejriwal replied to the Enforcement Directorate's fourth summons issued to him related to the Delhi Excise policy case and asked why the notice had been sent to him just two months before the elections.
ED had issued a summons to Kejriwal for the fourth time in a money laundering probe related to irregularities in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22 case, asking him to join the investigation on January 18.
Kejriwal has so far skipped summons issued by the ED on three occasions earlier including on January 3, November 2 and on December 22, calling them "illegal and politically motivated."
The ED wants to record Kejriwal's statement in the case on issues like the formulation of policy, meetings held before it was finalised, and allegations of bribery.
The Excise Policy case is based on a First Information Report (FIR) alleging multiple irregularities in the formation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy (2021-22) by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The policy was withdrawn after allegations of corruption.
The excise policy was aimed to revitalize the city's flagging liquor business and replace a sales-volume-based regime with a licence fee for traders. It promised swankier stores and a better buying experience. The policy introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor for the first time in Delhi.
