Delhi mayor tussle: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders on Saturday accused the BJP of making efforts to poach councillors of the party amid speculations that the saffron party may make efforts to get its mayor elected in the MCD House. BJP leaders including national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala and Delhi unit media cell head Harish Khurana had also alleged the same. The AAP ended BJP’s 15-year rule at the civic body bagging 134 of 250 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) wards, the results of which were declared on Wednesday.
While addressing a press conference on Saturday in the national capital, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged that the saffron party has approached several newly elected councillors and offered them hefty amounts in order to force them to switch the party.
Boasting the 'historical' results of AAP in the recently concluded Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, Singh alleged that BJP was trying its best to lure AAP leaders but added that the councillors are staunch followers of the principles of the party. "The Bhartiya Janata Party is such a shameless party, that it says the Mayor will be theirs, even after getting 30 fewer seats than us," Singh said.
According to Singh, three AAP councillors -- Dr Ronakshi Sharma, Arun Nawariya, and Jyoti Rani-- were approached on Saturday via phone and were told to speak to Delhi BJP Party President Adesh Kumar Gupta.
Singh said that the person who identified himself as "Yogendra" told the three councillors that the BJP has a budget of Rs 100 crore to buy 10 newly elected councillors. Singh said that the BJP is down to "dirty games, just like the horse-trading of MLAs in Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, and Gujarat".
MCD elections results
It is worth mentioning that among 250, the AAP wrested power from the BJP in the high-stakes civic polls in the national capital. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party bagged 134 of the 250 wards while the Saffron Party won 104.
Earlier on Wednesday, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the AAP councillors have started receiving calls from the Bharatiya Janta Party, alleging the poaching attempt of newly-elected party councillors after the civic poll results.
Also Read: Newly-elected MCD councillors switch back to Congress hours after joining AAP
