AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP on Thursday of trying to poach his party candidates ahead of the Delhi Assembly poll results on February 8.
The BJP dismissed the allegation and threatened legal action.
In a post on X, Kejriwal claimed that 16 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates had received offers from the BJP with the promise of ministerial positions and Rs 15 crore each if they switch sides.
In another tweet, the chief minister pointed out that while he was filing his nomination: "Some parties are showing results of abusive people that they were getting more than 55. In the last two hours, 16 out of our contestants received calls threatening them that they would be given a minister and Rs 15 crore if they left AAP for their party" Kejriwal said on microblogging platform in his Hindi post.
"If they are indeed winning more than 55 seats, why are they calling up our candidates? These fake surveys are a conspiracy to create an atmosphere to break AAP candidates. But not a single one of them will switch sides," he asserted.
AAP candidate from Sultanpur Majra and Delhi minister Mukesh Ahlawat echoed Kejriwal's claims by stating that he had been approached with such a deal.
"I may die, I may be cut into pieces, but I will never leave Arvind Kejriwal," Ahlawat said in a post on X. "They told me their government was being formed and they will make me a minister and give me Rs 15 crore if I leave AAP and join them. But the respect that Kejriwal and AAP has given me, I will never leave my party till my death," he added.
Earlier in the day, AAP leader Sanjay Singh raised these allegations at a press conference here, claiming that seven party MLAs had received calls or were approached in person with offers from BJP leaders.
"This clearly shows that the BJP has accepted its defeat even before the results and is now resorting to such tactics," the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva rejected the allegations, calling them a sign of the AAP’s “frustration” over an impending electoral defeat.
"Sanjay Singh should either withdraw his allegations and apologize or face legal action," Sachdeva said in a statement. "He should not forget that his party leader, (former) Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, is already facing a defamation case for making similar false allegations." Singh, however maintained that the AAP has advised its candidates to record such calls and use spy cameras to document what transpires in any face-to-face meeting regarding poaching attempts.
She demanded to know whether it was all because the BJP is getting over 50 seats if they're trying to break their candidates with a call and contact. That was Chief Minister Atishi speaking out on an issue, her first reaction over X.
Exit polls predicting that Bharatiya Janata Party would win the Delhi elections, the AAP is accusing them of a "conspiracy" for demoralising their candidates.
Polling for all the 70 Assembly seats in Delhi was conducted on Wednesday and the votes would be counted on Saturday. Results will show if AAP has bagged the third consecutive term of power or it is going to end BJP's 27 years of waiting for the chance to rule the capital.
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