Lok Sabha elections: AAP will ensure India is BJP-mukt by 2029, says Arvind Kejriwal

During the trust vote in Delhi Assembly, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a scathing attack on the BJP, saying the party saw AAP as its biggest challenger. Kejriwal sought a trust vote for the second time. The party has 62 MLAs in the 70-member Assembly and the BJP has eight.

"We have majority in the House but this confidence motion was needed because BJP was trying to poach AAP MLAs," Kejriwal said. 

Moving the vote of confidence motion in the Assembly, Kejriwal said two AAP MLAs told him that they were approached by members of the BJP who claimed that the Delhi chief minister would be arrested soon.

"If the BJP is afraid about its future, then it is only because of the AAP. That's why they want to break the AAP. If the BJP doesn't lose the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, then the AAP will surely make the country free of the BJP by 2029," he said.

"The MLAs were told that 21 AAP legislators have agreed to leave the party and more are in touch with the BJP. They offered the MLAs ₹ 25 crore to join the BJP. The MLAs told me they did not accept. When we spoke to other MLAs, we found that they had not contacted 21, but seven. They were trying to carry out another Operation Lotus," Kejriwal added. 

"I want to show that none of our MLAs defected, and all remain steadfastly aligned with us," he said.

Ahead of the trust vote, Kejriwal also appeared before a Delhi court via video conferencing this morning over skipping five earlier summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the liquor policy case. The court will next hear the matter on March 16.

The court had last week summoned Kejriwal to appear before it today, noting that he was "legally bound" to comply.