NEW DELHI: Seven BJP MPs in Delhi have written to Lt Governor V K Saxena seeking an enquiry into allegations of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia that AAP MLAs were offered Rs 20 crore to switch sides.
Labelling the allegation by Kejriwal and Sisodia as also by other AAP leaders, as "malicious, false and misleading", the BJP Lok Sabha MPs alleged it was an "attempt to divert attention from the liquor scam of the Delhi government".
Sisodia has gone to the extent of saying he had personally received a call asking him to join the BJP in return for dropping cases against him, the MPs said.
The Delhi deputy chief minister has been named as an accused by the CBI in its FIR registered in the probe into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
"This is an obvious attempt to divert people's attention from their (AAP government's) obvious involvement in the liquor and classroom scam amongst others," claimed the BJP MPs.
Besides liquor, the BJP has also alleged a scam in the construction of classrooms by the Kejriwal government.
"We, the MPs of the BJP, are obviously aggrieved at these grossly defamatory and unsubstantiated allegations. Accordingly, we request you to get a comprehensive inquiry conducted into the matter by a competent authority so that the truth could come out for the people of Delhi and India to see," read the letter.
The signatories of the letter included BJP MPs Harsh Vardhan, Meenakshi Lekhi, Manoj Tiwari, Parvesh Verma, Ramesh Bidhuri, and Hans Raj Hans while Gautam Gambhir gave his consent to it through phone as he was out of Delhi, said BJP leaders.
Kejriwal and Sisodia have alleged that the BJP made efforts to poach AAP MLAs by offering them Rs 20 crore each.
The Delhi chief minister who had claimed it was aimed at toppling his government, also alleged that Rs 800 crore was kept aside by the BJP to poach 40 AAP MLAs.
Addressing the Delhi Assembly earlier in the day, said the BJP should answer whether CBI will also probe the source of money for its "'Operation Lotus' to buy AAP MLAs".