Mr Kejriwal alleged the BJP was trying to carry out another 'Operation Lotus'.
In a show of strength amid speculation of his arrest, which has ramped up following the sixth summons issued to him on Wednesday in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal moved a trust vote in the Assembly today.
Discussions on the motion will be held tomorrow, a day on which the AAP chief is also supposed to appear before a court and explain why he had skipped the five earlier summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate.
Moving the vote of confidence motion in the Assembly, Mr Kejriwal said two AAP MLAs told him that they were approached by members of the BJP who claimed that the Delhi chief minister would be arrested soon.
"The MLAs were told that 21 AAP legislators have agreed to leave the party and more are in touch with the BJP. They offered the MLAs Rs 25 crore to join the BJP. The MLAs told me they did not accept. When we spoke to other MLAs, we found that they had not contacted 21, but seven. They were trying to carry out another Operation Lotus," Mr Kejriwal said.
"So it is clear that the alleged liquor policy scam is not a scam at all but an attempt to break our party and topple the government by filing false cases like they have in other states. Their aim is not to carry out an investigation but to arrest our leaders - and they have already arrested some - in the guise of the liquor policy case. Their aim is to topple the government because they know they can never win elections in Delhi," the AAP chief claimed.
Claiming that the BJP wanted to form its own government in Delhi by doing so, the chief minister said, “By god's grace and thanks to people's faith in us, they were unsuccessful. So, to see for ourselves and show the people that not one of our MLAs defected and all of them are with us, I am presenting a motion of confidence.”
The Aam Aadmi Party has 62 MLAs in the 70-member Assembly and the BJP has eight.
Tomorrow's trust vote, which comes on the heels of Mr Kejriwal and Delhi Minister Atishi being served notices by the crime branch over their allegations that the BJP was trying to "poach" AAP MLAs, will be the party's third in two years. After making similar allegations that the BJP was trying to topple its government, the party had tabled, and won, confidence motions in 2022 and 2023 as well.
Legal Troubles
Issuing its sixth summons to Mr Kejriwal on Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate has asked him to appear before the agency for questioning on Monday in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case.
The AAP chief has skipped five summons so far and he and his party have repeatedly claimed that the summonses were illegal and the agency's only aim is to arrest him.
On February 3, a day after he skipped the fifth summons, the ED also moved the Rouse Avenue court in Delhi, which has directed Mr Kejriwal to appear before it tomorrow and explain why he has not heeded the agency's earlier calls.
The Case
Under the liquor policy, introduced in November 2021, the government withdrew from retail sale of liquor and allowed private licensees to run stores. In July 2022, Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar flagged gross violations in the policy and alleged "undue benefits" to liquor licensees. The policy was scrapped in September that year.
The CBI has alleged that liquor companies were involved in framing the excise policy, which would have earned them a 12% profit. It said a liquor lobby dubbed the "South Group" had paid kickbacks, part of which were routed to public servants. The Enforcement Directorate has alleged laundering of the kickbacks.
The BJP has claimed that the proceeds of the alleged scam were used by the AAP to fund its campaign for the Gujarat Assembly polls in 2022, in which it got 12.91% of the votes and established itself as a national party.