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Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said on Saturday that he would not be surprised if the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) allegation that the BJP is trying to poach its MLAs proves to be right.
"I won't be surprised if this news proves to be correct. The BJP is using such tactics in many states," Sandeep Dikshit told ANI, reacting to the AAP's allegation. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to topple the elected Delhi government through a campaign dubbed "Operation Lotus 2.0." Addressing a press conference on Saturday, senior AAP leader Atishi claimed that the BJP has approached several AAP MLAs with bribes and threats in a bid to induce defection. Sandeep Dikshit alleged that the BJP is trying to topple the state governments ruled by the opposition parties in two ways. "The first is to try to bring the whole leadership of a party to their side. The second is that if the leadership is not ready for that, they will try to purchase MLAs. This has happened in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and the whole of the North East. They are especially doing this now because the Lok Sabha election is coming up," he said. Meanwhile, Atishi said that the BJP has started 'Operation Lotus 2.0' and is trying to topple the democratically elected AAP government in Delhi. "Seven MLAs of the AAP have been contacted by the BJP and have been told that Arvind Kejriwal will be arrested soon, after which AAP MLAs will be rifted apart. They are in touch with 21 of our MLAs, using whom they aim to topple the Delhi government. Those 7 MLAs have been offered Rs 25 crore each. Operation Lotus is the tactic used by the BJP to come into power in states where they are not democratically elected. Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh are examples," she said. "In Delhi, they are going to our MLAs and saying that Kejriwal is going to go to jail and then we will call all the MLAs to ourselves and form the BJP government in Delhi, but I want to say that the Aam Aadmi Party is not afraid. Not a single MLA is afraid, " added the Delhi Minister. She also claimed that the AAP possesses a recording of one such "Operation Lotus 2.0" conversation, hinting at its potential release if necessary. "Currently, 7 MLAs have been offered by BJP; we have the recording of one of them and will release it when required," said Atishi Singh. However, the BJP has rejected the AAP's claim of Operation Lotus 2.0. "Arvind Kejriwal is again lying as he has done since the last seven times. Not once has been able to tell which phone number was used to contact them, who contacted them, and where was the meeting held. he just gives out statements and goes into hiding... His partners are in jail, and he is repeatedly avoiding ED summons because he knows he does not have answers to the ED questions..." said BJP leader Kapil Mishra. AAP won 62 out of 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly polls. The BJP got just 8 seats, while the rest of the parties including the Congress, drew a blank. (ANI)
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