Punjab Police Files FIR Over AAP’s Claim of BJP Trying To Break State Government

This comes on the same day as eight Congress MLAs crossing over to the BJP in Goa.

Arvind Kejriwal. 

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Arvind Kejriwal.)

Hours after Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday, 14 September, alleged that the the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) approached their MLAs to topple the Punjab government, the Punjab Police filed a First Information Report (FIR) on the basis of the complaint by MLAs.

"Following a complaint filed by some MLAs of the state, the Punjab Police registered a first information report under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 171-B and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)," an official spokesperson of the state police said.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal alleged that 10 of his party's MLAs in Punjab were approached by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to break the Bhagwant Mann-led state government.

"Our 10 MLAs have been approached in Punjab by the BJP; they are buying MLAs and breaking governments," Kejriwal said, as per NDTV.

This comes on the same day eight Congress MLAs crossed over to the BJP in Goa.

Reacting to the developments, Kejriwal slammed the BJP's alleged 'Operation Lotus,' but said that the Congress was to blame as well.

"BJP is poaching MLAs by spending crores across the country in the name of Operation Lotus, this is wrong. But it is also the Congress's fault. BJP could not break our MLAs in Delhi, Punjab," he said.

'BJP Offering Rs 25 Cr to Each MLA To Switch Sides': AAP

Punjab minister Harpal Cheema said that the AAP MLAs who had been allegedly approached by the saffron party include Dinesh Chadha, Raman Arora, Budh Ram, Kulwant Pandori, Narinder Kaur Bharaj, Rajnish Dahiya, Rupinder Singh Happy, Sheetal Angural, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, Labh Singh Ugoke, and Baljinder Kaur.

Cheema also said that a police complaint will be filed with regard to the matter and "proof of phone calls" submitted to the state police chief.

"The BJP is offering Rs 25 crore per MLA to switch sides. Operation Lotus may have succeeded in Karnataka, but the Delhi MLAs stayed firm and failed the BJP operation," the minister said.

The BJP, however, ridiculed the allegations, and said that the Punjab government was leading to a split due to Kejriwal's "interference."

"The baseless allegation made by the Punjab minister Harpal Cheema against the BJP of toppling the state government shows that AAP is leading to a big split in Punjab. The party is on the verge of being torn apart by Kejriwal's interference," BJP leader Subhash Sharma said.

The AAP had earlier alleged that several of its MLAs in Delhi had been contacted and offered crores by the BJP to "break" the party. This came in the backdrop of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the state's excise policy.

Kejriwal had also said that the BJP offered AAP MLAs Rs 20 crore each in return for crossing over, and even more if they could bring other MLAs along.

(With inputs from PTI and NDTV.)