Atishi has alleged that the BJP has offered her to switch
New Delhi:
The Delhi unit of the BJP has sent a smear notice to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and minister Atishi after she alleged that the BJP had approached her asking her to switch over. Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva told the media today that they have issued the notice and demanded a public apology from Ms Atishi.
“Atishi has not provided any proof of who approached her, how and when. The AAP is going through a crisis in Delhi and that is why it is making such baseless allegations out of frustration. But we will not let her get away with this,” he said. said.
At a press meet yesterday, Ms Atishi said: “The BJP approached me through someone very close to me. They asked me to join the BJP saying it would save my political career. They have threatened that if I don’t transfer, ED (Enforcement Directorate) will arrest me within a month.”
She also claimed that she and three other AAP leaders – Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, AAP MP Raghav Chadha and party MLA Durgesh Pathak – could be arrested in the coming months.
She said the person who approached her on behalf of the BJP had said that the ruling party had “taken the decision to crush everyone in AAP”.
“First they put everyone in the leadership of AAP in jail. Satyendra Jain, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and now Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been arrested. The BJP’s plan is to arrest four more AAP leaders in the next two months. They will arrest me, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Durgesh Pathak and Raghav Chadha,” she said. Sanjay Singh has been granted bail and will be released today.
Mr Sachdeva today challenged the Delhi Minister to hand over her phone to an investigative agency to prove her claims.
The Delhi BJP’s lawyer said the party has sent a defamation notice to Atishi to withdraw her statement, which he called “false, defamatory and fabricated”. If she cannot prove her claim, they will take more legal action, the lawyer said.