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Several senior leaders from different political parties have switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. On Sunday, AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal answered the much asked “why” the opposition leaders are crossing over under “Operation Lotus”.
‘There is only one agency responsible for leaders joining the BJP’
During a lunch hosted by Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi at his residence here, Kejriwal, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge by his side, said that if the ED was stopped and section 45 of the PMLA abolished, no one would cross over to the BJP and its leaders like Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje may form their own political outfits.
“Today, if the ED (Enforcement Directorate) is stopped and section 45 of the PMLA (The Prevention of Money-Laundering Act) is abolished, half of the BJP leaders will quit the party,” he said.
Chouhan and Raje were overlooked by the BJP for the chief minister posts in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan respectively despite ensuring the party’s return to power in the assembly polls held recently.
“There is only one agency (ED) which is responsible for leaders joining the BJP. No one will join the BJP if PMLA section 45 is removed. Leaders like Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje may form their own parties by the evening if section 45 of the PMLA is abolished,” he added.
‘Democracy being sabotaged in non-BJP ruled states’
Earlier on Sunday, Kejriwal has also said that had his former Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren joined hands with the BJP, he would not have been in jail.
In a post in Hindi, Soren’s wife Kalpana Murmu Soren had thanked Kejriwal for his support, and had stressed on the need to come together to fight the “conspiracy” of the BJP.
“Today the entire country is watching the conspiracy of the central government and the BJP. Everyone is upset to see how democracy is being sabotaged in Jharkhand as well as in Delhi and other non-BJP ruled states. Together, we have to fight this conspiracy of the central government and the BJP. Jai Johar! Jai Jharkhand!” she said.
Quoting her post, Kejriwal said, “Kalpana ji, we fully stand with former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren ji. The whole country praises his strength and courage. How he is facing the atrocities of BJP. If today he had gone with the BJP, he would not have been jailed. But he did not leave the path of truth. Salute to him!”
‘Will liberate India from BJP’
Kejriwal, on Saturday, dubbed AAP as the biggest challenger to the BJP and said that is why it is under attack from all sides. He asserted that even if the BJP wins this year’s Lok Sabha polls, the AAP will “liberate” the country from the saffron party in the 2029 elections.
Kejriwal also asserted that no AAP MLA had defected. He said several MLAs explained how they were contacted and offered money to switch sides, allegedly by “BJP people”.
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Published: 19 Feb 2024, 02:13 PM IST
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