Amid the ongoing political slugfest between Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has dubbed the BJP as a “serial killer of govern-ments”, referring to the fall of elected state govern-ments in Maharashtra and Karnataka, among others.
Speaking at a special one-day Assembly session convened by the AAP government to discuss “Op-eration Lotus” of the BJP, Kejriwal said, “There’s a new serial killer in town. The people select the gov-ernment, they (BJP) topple them. They are following the same pattern in Delhi.”
Talking of the “pattern” employed by the BJP-led Union government, he said central agencies, like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and En-forcement Directorate (ED), would be unleashed against legislators of the Opposition parties to threaten them to join hands with the BJP in toppling governments. The agencies “vanished” immediately after a government fell, he added.
Referring to the recent allegations by four AAP MLAs that they had been offered Rs 20 crore to switch to the BJP side, he said, “The rate for Delhi MLAs is Rs 20 crore and in Maharashtra, they an-nounced Rs 50 crore. I don’t know why they have offered less in Delhi…They spent Rs 5,500 cr to buy 277 MLAs, now they have reserved Rs 800cr to buy Delhi MLAs.” He said his government would face a trust vote to prove its majority in the state Assembly and also to expose the failed attempt of the BJP to lure any of their MLAs.
As per the Indian media, the AAP government is likely to bring a confidence motion on Monday, August 29. In the 70-member House, AAP has 62 MLAs while the BJP has eight legislators.
Kejriwal also sought to know how BJP had money to “buy” MLAs from other parties. “All the money coming from costly oil, fuel, basic necessities is being used for buying MLAs. All this money from GST (Goods and Services Tax) and inflation is being spent for two things – buying MLAs and writing off loans of billionaire friends of the government,” he alleged.—KMS
