Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 5: Charges and counter charges over alleged bribing and election deals have surfaced between the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as the parties get down on the drawing boards to prepare for the crucial elections to the Gujarat Assembly, a BJP stronghold and home state of the prime minister Narendra Modi and the union home minister Amit Shah.
While another letter allegedly written by the conman and released on Saturday implicated the AAP chief and the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in his bribing allegation, Kejriwal on his part fired a salvo against the BJP claiming that it had offered to spare his ministers from the central agency probes if the AAP agreed to withdraw from the contest in the Gujarat elections.
In a media interview, Kejriwal made the big claim that the BJP had offered him a “deal to spare” his ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain who are embroiled in investigations by central agencies, if the Aam Aadmi Party pulled out of next month’s Gujarat elections.
“After Manish Sisodia rejected their offer to be Delhi Chief Minister by leaving AAP, they have approached me now… they have said if you leave Gujarat and don’t contest there, we will spare both Satyendar Jain and Sisodia and drop all charges against them,” Mr Kejriwal said.
Asked who made the offer, Mr Kejriwal said, “How can I name one of my own… the offer has come through them… see they (BJP) never approach directly. They go from one to another, to another, to another, to a friend, and then the message reaches you.” He claimed that the offer was given to his party because the BJP was scared of losing both Gujarat elections and the closely watched municipal polls in Delhi, which is also scheduled to be held on December 4 and had pulled out all stops to defeat his party. He said the cases filed against Mr Sisodia over Delhi’s now-revoked liquor sales policy and Mr Jain about proxy or ‘hawala’ transactions were “all fabricated.”
Apparently in a counter-balance, the second letter from the jailed conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar is doing rounds claiming that he had given Rs 10 crores to Satyendar Jain, who them was the jail minister, after a meeting with Kejriwal. He also claimed that at different times he paid more money to the AAP which had also promised him a seat in the Rajya Sabha.
In a press release on Saturday, Chandrasekhar claimed that the AAP had taken Rs 50 crore from him and offered him a Rajya Sabha seat. He also alleged that Kejriwal had asked him to bring 20-30 people on board to contribute Rs 500 crore to the party in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in 2016.
Dismissing the claims, the AAP has called it “a fictitious ploy” by the BJP and the Delhi Lieutenant Governor appointed by its central government. “All the criminals and thieves, dacoits and conmen, all join BJP,” Kejriwal said after reports about the letter, “They can make any criminal in jail say anything against anyone. I am hearing now that in the next few weeks a criminal called Sukesh Chandrasekhar will be joining BJP.”
The BJP has said the AAP “stands exposed” in Mr Chandrasekhar’s recent letters specifically about his alleged deals with Mr Jain, who is in jail since May over money laundering allegations.
Chandrasekhar is currently lodged in Tihar jail at present, and he has also been accused there of bribing jail officials to get preferential treatment. His application for bail was rejected by a Delhi court on Saturday before his statement was released.
Chandrasekhar had earlier claimed to have written a letter to Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) VK Saxena and alleged that Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain, who is in jail in relation to a case of alleged money laundering, had asked him for ‘protection money’ while he was in jail. The L-G had forwarded the letter to the chief secretary and asked him to take action as per law.
Reacting to Kejriwal’s tweet which had referred to Sukesh as a thug and his allegations as a distraction from the Morbi bridge collapse, Chandrasekhar said he would initiate defamation proceedings against the Delhi chief minister next week. He also claimed that Kejriwal had attended a dinner party with him after the delivery of the Rs 50 crore.
Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia later alleged that Chandrasekhar was writing the letters on behalf of the BJP to malign Kejriwal and the AAP ahead of the Gujarat elections where it was “scared” of being thrown out of power. They also predicted that Chandrasekhar would soon be inducted in the BJP as a member.
On the Gujarat elections, Mr Kejriwal predicted the AAP would form the next government in Gujarat, while the opposition Congress would get fewer than five seats in the 182-member assembly. He also alleged that the BJP was funding all the Congress candidates for the Gujarat elections and the two parties would join hands to form a government if the AAP fail short of a clear majority. “The BJP-Congress in Gujarat are like husband-wife or brother-sister relationship. The Congress is entirely in the pocket of the BJP,” he alleged.
Accusing the BJP and the Congress of being part of being in a mutually beneficial relationship, he said ruling party was bankrolling opposition party’s candidates in an effort to contain the AAP’s surge. Congress is like BJP’s wife, he said, adding that both are “playing ILU-ILU (I love you – I love you)”.
“BJP and Congress have husband-wife/ brother-sister relationship. I heard an interview by Amit Shah yesterday where he too is saying the contest is only between BJP and Congress and Congress is also playing with that narrative…the Congress is like BJP’s wife…they are totally in BJP’s pocket.,” Kejriwal said.
Mr Kejriwal also accused the BJP of threatening all TV channels in Gujarat not to invite any AAP leader on their debate shows. “You will see debates even on Manish Sisodia, but no AAP representation. Only BJP and Congress…this husband-wife/brother-sister relationship they share is out in the open now,” he added.
AAP’s Chief Minister candidate for Gujarat, Isudan Gadhvi, also claimed that all Congress candidates are in touch with the BJP. “The BJP has told them to fight the election on a Congress ticket, but will be funded by the BJP. If they win, they can cross over after the election result. While in the Congress, they should contest to defeat AAP candidates or take away their votes,” Mr Gadhvi said.
The Congress candidates have been told to get at least 22 seats, with the BJP thinking they will barely manage 70 seats, Isudhan Gadhvi claimed. Agreeing with Mr Gadhvi, Arvind Kejriwal stressed there is no Congress, effectively, and that the BJP is funding their own candidates as well as Congress candidates. “The fight is AAP vs BJP-Congress combined,” he said.
