BJP has spent Rs 6,300 crore in toppling govts of other parties, claims Kejriwal

PTI, Aug 27, 2022, 1:52 PM IST

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday claimed that the Centre did not have to impose GST on food items if the BJP had not spent a whopping Rs 6,300 crore on toppling governments of other parties in the country.

Kejriwal’s remarks come a day after his called the BJP a ”serial killer of state governments”. During his address in the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal also alleged that the BJP is using money collected through GST and hike in petrol and diesel prices to ”poach” the MLAs.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor on Saturday also alleged that the people are facing the brunt of price rise with the BJP spending crores of rupees on ‘poaching’ other parties’ MLAs and bringing down their governments in states. In a tweet in Hindi, Kejriwal said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that has been imposed on curd, buttermilk, honey, wheat, rice etc., will fetch Rs 7,500 crore revenue per annum to the central government. ”They have spent Rs 6,300 crore so far on toppling governments. They would not have had to impose GST on wheat, rice, buttermilk etc. if they had not toppled governments. People do not have to face inflation,” he claimed.

The political slugfest between the AAP and the BJP has intensified since the CBI registered a case against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and others for alleged irregularities in implementation of the Excise policy on the Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena’s recommendation.

The probe agency raided Sisodia’s residence in the capital and 30 other locations in the country in connection with the case on August 19. The AAP alleged that the Centre put the CBI after Sisodia to dent his image by implicating him in a ”fake” case as the BJP is ”terrified” by the growing popularity of Kejriwal and his model of government in the run up to the assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

A day after the CBI raid, Sisodia claimed that the BJP had approached him with an offer to get all corruption charges against him dropped and also appoint him as Chief Minister of Delhi if he switches sides and joins the saffron party.

Earlier this week, four AAP MLAs claimed that the BJP leaders approached them offering Rs 20 crore each if they join the saffron party or else they will also have to face fake cases, CBI and ED.

On Thursday, the AAP claimed the BJP has approached 40 of its MLAs with such offers and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to topple the Kejriwal government in Delhi.

During his address in the Delhi Assembly, he also claimed that the BJP has bought 277 MLAs till now across the country.

The BJP, however, countered the charge accusing the AAP of making false claims just to divert people’s attention from the corruption charges against Sisodia.