Arvind Kejriwal will take the majority test today
Ahead of voting on a confidence motion proposed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, legislators of both Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP continued protests at Delhi assembly, accusing each other of corruption.
As the house assembled, AAP legislators jumped into the well and raised slogans against Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, demanding his resignation. The BJP MLAs also raised slogans against the Delhi government for not allowing discussions on various issues, including Excise Policy and Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) report on construction of Delhi schools.
AAP MLAs have alleged a scam of Rs 1400 crore in 2016 when the Lieutenant Governor was Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) chairman, while BJP MLAs are demanding the sacking of ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain over alleged corruption. Later, BJP MLAs were marshalled out of the house.
Last night, legislators of both parties staged protests at the Delhi assembly. AAP MLAs squatted near the Mahatma Gandhi statue at the assembly, while BJP MLAs staged their dharna near the statues of Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev.
Arvind Kejriwal on Monday called for a confidence vote in the house to prove all MLAs are with him despite what he claims are BJP's attempts to break his party as part of an "Operation Lotus" or a plan to dislodge his government in Delhi. Mr Kejriwal said he wanted to take the majority test to prove that his party MLAs were honest and would not be tempted to cross over.
Mr Kejriwal alleged that the BJP has "bought" 277 MLAs till now to topple various state governments across the country, including Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Goa Maharashtra and Assam. "The BJP tried to buy our legislators too, but not even a single MLA accepted their offer. The Operation Lotus has failed in Delhi," he said. He said the current central government is the "most corrupt" as it is "poaching" MLAs by taxing the common people.
The CBI today searched Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's bank locker in connection with an ongoing probe into alleged irregularities and corruption in Delhi's liquor policy, which was introduced earlier this year and then rolled back. His home was raided earlier this month. Mr Sisodia is number one on a list of 15 accused named in the CBI's FIR on liquor policy violations.
The CBI FIR is based on a reference from the Lieutenant Governor, who had accused AAP of bringing the Excise Policy "with the sole aim" of benefiting private liquor barons for financial benefits to "individuals at the highest echelons of the government. Mr Saxena has alleged various discrepancies in the functioning of the Delhi government.
Another AAP minister, Satyendra Jain, was arrested by the central probe agency on May 30 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) over alleged hawala transactions with a Kolkata-based firm in 2015-16. Mr Jain's arrest, and recent CBI raids on Mr Sisodia, have triggered a massive war of words between the AAP and the BJP with each bitterly criticising the other.
AAP has said that the 2024 general election is set to be a contest between Mr Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accuses the BJP of misusing central agencies to try and stop the AAP leader because of his rising popularity and "commendable" work in the education and health sector.
The BJP has denied AAP's allegations, accusing it of trying to divert attention from the corruption in its government. In Mr Saxena's defence, the party said AAP leaders were levelling corruption allegations against him "to take revenge".
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