Delhi Court Summons AAP Politician Atishi for Claims of Poaching MLAs by BJP
Delhi Court Summons AAP Politician Atishi for Claims of Poaching MLAs by BJP
Although there is no basis for such claims made by AAP politicians including Delhi chief minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal, they blame BJP for falsely gaining public sympathy.
By Rakesh Raman
An Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) woman politician Atishi Marlena has been summoned by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court in a defamation case filed by Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) media head Praveen Shankar Kapoor.
According to a Business Standard report of today (May 28), the BJP leader complains that Atishi Marlena has leveled “baseless allegations” against the BJP of poaching MLAs. Atishi has been summoned to appear before the court on June 29.
Earlier last month, according to the report, the BJP Delhi unit had sent a defamation notice to Atishi and demanded a public apology for her unsubstantiated claim that BJP approached her through a “very close” person to join it.
Referring to a press conference held by Atishi on April 2, the BJP complaint asserts that AAP politicians alleged that Rs. 20-30 crore were offered by the BJP to buy some AAP MLAs.
Although there is no basis for such claims made by AAP politicians including Delhi chief minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal, they blame BJP for falsely gaining public sympathy.
It has become a dirty modus operandi of AAP to make baseless accusations against BJP to build an impression that BJP is trying to implicate AAP leaders in various scandals, including the liquor mafia scandal in which various AAP leaders including Kejriwal have been jailed.
While BJP has hardly any role in the imprisonment of AAP leaders, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has collected and shown ample evidence – including the money trail – in court which ordered the incarceration of Kejriwal, and his AAP colleagues Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and Satyendar Jain in the money laundering cases.
Since a number of other AAP politicians are also allegedly involved in Delhi liquor scam, earlier this month (May 2024), the ED named the entire Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as an accused in the scam.
In Punjab also, where AAP runs the government, the local AAP politicians keep blaming BJP of an attempt to buy them for Rs. 20-25 crore for each MLA, although they could never produce any evidence of such an offer by BJP. In March, for example, 3 AAP MLAs made such baseless claims.
Reports suggest that the ED dragnet will soon extend to more AAP leaders including Atishi, Raghav Chadha, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Durgesh Pathak, and others. Some of these names are already in the files of the ED or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
When their names appear in the investigation reports of agencies, these AAP politicians start making false accusations on BJP to divert attention, while the investigation agencies such as the ED and CBI have sufficient evidence against them.
The BJP also complains that even Kejriwal – who is out on a temporary bail – alleged in a tweet dated January 27, 2024 that BJP contacted seven of AAP MLAs and is planning to topple the AAP government in Delhi. But Kejriwal had no proof of his allegations.
A similar ploy is being used by AAP politicians in Punjab because the dubious Delhi liquor policy – which led to the imprisonment of AAP Delhi politicians – is being implemented in Punjab also.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
