The Delhi Police’s crime branch paid a visit to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence on Saturday in order to deliver a notice requesting his participation in the investigation regarding the Aam Aadmi Party’s claims of BJP’s attempts to lure their MLAs. As per sources from the Chief Minister’s Office, they were prepared to acknowledge the notice from the crime branch and provide a receipt in return. Nevertheless, they accused the police of not delivering the notice directly and instead bringing along the media. Additionally, the Chief Minister’s Office claimed that the police had arrived solely to tarnish their reputation.
In the meantime, insiders from the crime branch expressed their intention to personally deliver the notice to the Chief Minister. This update follows the crime branch team’s visit to the homes of Kejriwal and cabinet minister Atishi on Friday, in order to serve them with the aforementioned notices. Despite this, both leaders declined to accept the notices.
In response to their refusal, insiders from the Delhi Police stated that their team would revisit their residences on Saturday.
THE BACKGROUND
The AAP recently accused the BJP of providing a sum of Rs 25 crore to seven of its MLAs as an incentive to leave the party. Additionally, they claimed that the BJP also issued a warning to overthrow the Kejriwal government.
During a press conference, Atishi accused the BJP of initiating “Operation Lotus 2.0” in Delhi. She claimed that the BJP had previously attempted to lure AAP MLAs with money, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
Atishi also mentioned that similar conspiracies had been orchestrated by the BJP in the past. In 2022, they had tried to persuade AAP MLAs to defect and join the BJP by offering them money.
In response to these allegations made by the AAP, a delegation from the Delhi BJP, led by Sachdeva, met with the city’s police chief on January 30. They requested an investigation into Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s claims.
After the meeting with Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora at the Police headquarters, Virendra Sachdeva, the Delhi BJP chief, stated that Kejriwal was asked to provide evidence to support his allegations. However, no one from the AAP had come forward with any proof.
Sachdeva emphasized that these accusations made by the Delhi chief minister and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders were completely unfounded.