BJP conspiring to topple AAP govt through ‘back door’ to impose President’s rule in Delhi: Atishi

PTI, Sep 10, 2024, 4:07 PM IST

Senior AAP leader and minister Atishi on Tuesday accused the BJP of conspiring to topple the Kejriwal government through “back door” by imposition of the President’s rule in Delhi.

The accusation comes a day after the President’s secretariat forwarded the assertions of opposition BJP that Delhi was facing a constitutional crisis to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for “proper attention”.

Talking to PTI, Atishi said that if the Kejriwal government is toppled, the Delhiites will give a befitting reply by giving zero seats to the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will win all the 70 seats.

Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta on Monday said that the memorandum, which was submitted to President Droupadi Murmu by the BJP MLAs on Friday seeking the dismissal of the AAP government for alleged violation of the Constitution, has been forwarded to the MHA.

Gupta alleged that “paralysis of governance” in Delhi was caused by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal being in jail for more than four months on serious corruption charges in the excise policy case.

Atishi said the BJP’s only job is to topple the elected governments in the country through its “Operation Lotus” as happened in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Manipur.

“They also tried Operation Lotus in Delhi to topple the government by poaching the AAP MLAs, but they failed. Now, they are conspiring to impose the President’s Rule through the back door to topple the popular government of Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi,” she alleged.

Atishi said that people of Delhi “love” Kejriwal because he provided them good schools, hospitals, electric buses, free bus travel to women and free pilgrimage to the elderly.

“If the BJP topples the Kejriwal government, the people of Delhi will give it a befitting reply. The BJP will lose even the eight seats it holds now and will be reduced to zero in the upcoming assembly polls and the AAP will win all the 70 seats,” she said.

The elections to the 70 seats of the Delhi Assembly are due early next year.

Earlier on Monday, Gupta in a statement claimed that the AAP government’s failure to constitute the sixth Delhi Finance Commission and not taking any action on the CAG report is a “violation of the Constitution”.

A delegation of the BJP MLAs met President Murmu on Friday and submitted a memorandum, urging her “urgent intervention” in the “constitutional crisis plaguing Delhi” due to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s imprisonment.

“The president, taking cognisance of the memorandum, has forwarded it to the home secretary for appropriate attention,” Gupta said, sharing a letter from the president’s secretariat.

Gupta said that he has urged the home secretary to take “immediate and appropriate action” on the matter.

“Kejriwal has refused to resign, which is creating an unprecedented situation that has led to a complete breakdown of governance in Delhi. Critical administrative decisions are being delayed and essential services are severely affected, directly impacting the lives of Delhi’s citizens,” he said.

The Delhi chief minister has been in judicial custody since his arrest on March 21 in the excise policy case