Delhi LG orders probe after Arvind Kejriwal alleges BJP trying to poach AAP candidates

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Friday directed the Anti-Corruption Branch to investigate allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party was attempting to poach Aam Aadmi Party candidates ahead of the Assembly elections, reported PTI.

Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal alleged on Thursday that the BJP had offered Rs 15 crore to 16 of the party’s candidates and promised them ministerial posts if they defected. He made the allegations a day after Assembly elections were held in Delhi on February 5.

“If this party [the BJP] is getting more than 55 seats then what is the need for him to call our candidates?” Kejriwal wrote on social media, alluding to several exit polls that have pegged the BJP to win 45 to 55 Assembly seats.

Following this, the BJP filed a complaint before Saxena, describing Kejriwal’s allegations as “false and baseless”, reported ANI.

In a letter, the BJP’s Delhi unit general secretary Vishnu Mittal urged the lieutenant governor to direct the Anti-Corruption Branch and other investigating agencies to register a first information report and look into the allegations raised by Kejriwal.

On Friday, the Anti-Corruption Branch sent a notice to the former chief minister of Delhi, asking him for details of the 16 candidates who were allegedly offered bribes. Kejriwal was also asked to provide evidence backing…

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