CHANDIGARH: A day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 14 wards in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation elections and became the biggest party in the civic body, it alleged that the BJP is trying to “buy” three of its winning candidates. Trashing the allegation as “totally baseless and false”, the BJP claimed AAP is seeking “cheap publicity”.
Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha, who is AAP’s co-in-charge of Punjab and Chandigarh, alleged that the BJP tried to buy two AAP councillors by paying Rs 50 lakh each and another councillor by paying Rs 75 lakh.
Alleging that senior BJP leaders contacted the three councillors, offering money, Chadha said BJP’s “real face” has come to the fore after its drubbing in civic body elections.
The AAP MLA alleged that the saffron party has launched ‘Operation Kamal’ in Chandigarh on the lines of what BJP attempted in Goa, Arunachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
The Kejriwal-led party has instructed its councillors to put their mobile phones on recording mode and install hidden CCTV cameras outside their homes so that if BJP tries to poach them, the recordings would be made public to “expose BJP’s vile politics”.
Denying the allegations, Chandigarh BJP president Arun Sood said, “These are totally baseless and false allegations, which have been levelled by AAP just for cheap publicity ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab. They are taking names of our senior party leaders to gain sympathy.”
Alleging that AAP has “brought bagfuls of money, mainly foreign funds, to buy the councillors of other parties”, Sood said AAP has hurled allegations against his party to “cover up these misdeeds in case they get exposed while horse-trading”.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal said Chandigarh results show people are fed up with old-style politics and parties.