BJP trying to poach our councillors ahead of crucial poll: AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday said the BJP was trying to poach its councillors by offering them money and threatening them with action by the Central probe agencies ahead of the September 26 election for the lone seat on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s Standing Committee.

In response, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, “Whenever AAP faces the prospect of defeat in an election, its leaders begin levelling poaching allegations against us.” He added that AAP MLAs and councillors are leaving the party after getting “disillusioned” by the Delhi government’s “corruption and inefficiency”. “In order to prevent their party from collapsing, they are talking about ‘Operation Lotus’,” said Mr. Sachdeva.

What’s at stake

The Standing Committee election was necessitated after the seat was vacated by BJP’s Kamaljeet Sehrawat, who won the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency in the recently held general election. Six members of the 18-member panel, three each from the BJP and AAP, were elected in March 2023. The remaining 12 members were elected through the recently held zonal committee polls in which the BJP won seven posts and AAP the remaining five.

A win for the BJP in the Standing Committee poll would ensure its control over the civic body’s main decision-making arm that has executive powers to grant approval to projects worth over ₹5 crore while a victory for AAP would help it equalise and push for a draw of lots to select the panel’s chairperson and deputy chairperson.

‘Crores on offer’

Addressing a press conference, AAP’s MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak said, “In a desperate bid to win the election, the BJP is offering ₹50 lakh to ₹2 crore to our councillors. They are also threatening our councillors with ED-CBI.”

In August, ahead of the zonal committee polls, five AAP councillors defected to the BJP. However, one of them — Ram Chander — returned to AAP a week later, just in time for the elections, claiming that the BJP had threatened to frame him in ED and CBI cases. The BJP had rubbished the allegations, terming them “lies” and “sensationalism”.

Currently, AAP has 128 members in the 250-member House while the BJP has 111 councillors, followed by the Congress at nine. The MCD House also has two Independent councillors.

Published - September 21, 2024 12:48 am IST