Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will take a confidence vote in the house today to prove all Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs are with him despite what he claims are the BJP’s attempts to break his party and dislodge his government.
Arvind Kejriwal said he wanted to take the majority test to prove that his party MLAs would not be tempted to cross over. He has alleged that the BJP has offered ₹ 20 crore each to his MLAs to switch sides as part of an “Operation Lotus” – or a plan to topple his government – in Delhi.
Last week, Arvind Kejriwal’s meeting at his home was attended by 53 of AAP’s 62 MLAs in Delhi. The rest were accounted for and joined virtually, said Mr Kejriwal, who later went to Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial Rajghat with the MLAs.
“I have heard they are trying to bribe 40 MLAs to cross over. I am happy that not a single MLA has given in,” Mr Kejriwal had said after visiting Rajghat.
Mr Kejriwal said he went to Rajghat to “pray for the failure of the BJP’s Operation Lotus”. AAP has accused the BJP of plotting an “Operation Lotus” to bring down its government in the pattern of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
His deputy Manish Sisodia had claimed that the BJP had offered to “shut all cases” against him if he quit the AAP and crossed over.