Was approached with offer of Rs 25 crore to join BJP: AAP MLA Rituraj Jha
New Delhi: AAP MLA Rituraj Jha on Monday alleged in the Delhi Assembly that he was approached by the BJP to join them with an offer of Rs 25 crore to break away from the party and bring 10 MLAs along with him.
Speaking in the Delhi Assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "wanting to crush the Delhi government".
"Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is the only leader who has defeated Prime Minister Narendra Modi four times in Delhi -- 2013, 2015, 2020 Assembly elections and 2022 MCD polls. They have started a cheap trick once again," he said.
Jha said that he was approached with an offer to join the BJP on Sunday.
"Yesterday, I went to Bawana's Dariyapur to attend a wedding after the INDIA maharally. There were some people who were trying to approach me over phone for the last three to four days," Jha said.
"When I reached there at 9.15 pm, three-four people took me to one side and said 'see if you will not agree, you will not get anything. President's rule will be imposed. You bring 10 MLAs and we will give Rs 25 crore to each one of you. You will be made a minister in the BJP government'," he added.
Asserting the AAP MLAs will not leave the party, Jha escalating his attack on the BJP said that Operation Lotus has begun again.
BJP MLA Vijender Gupta asked Jha whether he filed a police complaint after receiving a call for joining the saffron party.
"The AAP MLAs have alleged a dozen times before that money was offered to them. Saying anything using sanctity of the House is not done. How long will you speak lies?" he said.
AAP legislator Somnath Bharti, while speaking in the House, said it was duty of the Election Commission "to ensure free and fair elections but it kept mum even as the convener of a national party was sent to jail ahead of the Lok Sabha polls".
"A sitting chief minister was arrested on the statement of such a person who in his previous six statements said nothing against him. I will tonsure my head and go door to door telling people how (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and the BJP have murdered democracy if President's rule is imposed in Delhi," he said.
He charged that the BJP wanted Kejriwal to resign.
"But Kejriwal had already asked entire Delhi what should he do if the BJP got him arrested. Entire Delhi is saying that Kejriwal should not resign from the chief minister's post," Bharti said.
"If anyone can save democracy in the country, it is only Kejriwal. The BJP is ruining the country and destroying the democracy and the Constitution," he charged.
The AAP national convener, who was arrested on March 21 and subsequently remanded to the ED custody by a Delhi court, faces allegations of direct involvement in a conspiracy related to the formulation of the excise policy favouring specific individuals.
Kejriwal has been sent to judicial custody by the trial court till April 15.
BIG EXPOSE BY AAP MLA - OPERATION LOTUS OF BJP EXPOSED IN DELHI
— AAP Ka Mehta 🇮🇳 (@DaaruBaazMehta) April 1, 2024
AAP MLA @MLARitura Exposed BJP in Delhi Assembly on how they are trying to break AAP in DElhi.
BJP offered 25 crores to Join BJP or face ED/CBI
BJP said that they will impose President's Rule if we dont agree.… pic.twitter.com/Nty26zSSdt
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Confident we are going to win Kerala: Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed confidence in the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, saying the Congress-led alliance will win more than 75 seats out of the total 140 in the state.
Tharoor, who hails from Kerala, said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls, most of which predicted a victory for the UDF that has been out of power for 10 years in the state.
"We have been on the ground. I have campaigned in 59 constituencies across 12 districts out of 14. I was very confident we are going to win.
"Everything that I have picked up from not just my party colleagues and workers but also from other observers, media and others have always convinced me that we were going to score a comfortable win of above 75 seats. And all the (exit) polls have confirmed the same thing," he told reporters here.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls but in general he was not a big fan of exit polls in India.
"Because ours is not purely a homogenous society. We have to take into account gender issue, caste issue, class issue, regional disparities. You never get a convincingly large enough sample to give an accurate poll and now there is the additional complication that we have heard about in West Bengal this year that many people are unwilling to answer the questions of the pollsters," he said.
The Congress leader said normally, it used to be below 10 per cent that people said that they would not answer.
"Even if you are a reputable exit pollster, in Bengal, one polling company has said 60 per cent of people refused to answer. So, what is the worth of a poll where 60 per cent of your respondents have not answered," he said.
Several exit polls on Wednesday predicted a comeback by the Congress-led UDF in Kerala after 10 years, dethroning the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Polling for the 140-member Kerala assembly was held on April 9. Results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, besides Kerala, will be announced on May 4.
