As expected, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the confidence motion moved by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday via voice vote, with 54 votes in favour and one against the motion.
Kejriwal said, “Not even one of our MLAs broke away. Of the 62, 54 are here. Two are unwell, three are out of Delhi, two are in jail and one has a wedding in the family.” The AAP had issued a whip for the voting on Saturday.
The eight absent AAP MLAs were Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, who are in jail; minister Kailash Gahlot and MLA Raghavendra Showkeen, who were unwell with the latter suffering a ligament tear; MLA Jarnail Singh, who was out of Delhi, MLA Dharampal Lakra, who lost his nephew just a day earlier; Girish Soni, who was busy with his daughter’s wedding celebrations; and MLA Amanatullah Khan.
According to Kejriwal, the confidence motion was necessitated as two MLAs told him that they were approached by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that the CM would be arrested and the AAP government would be toppled by poaching MLAs, 21 of whom were already in touch with them, with talks of Rs 25 crore and a ticket to contest. However, the AAP’s own inquiry had revealed that not 21, but 7 MLAs were approached by the BJP. This is the third time in less than two years that the AAP has moved and won the “confidence motion” –September 2022, March 2023 and now February 2024.
Bidhuri, the lone BJP MLA in the house following the suspension of the seven other BJP MLAs on Friday, said, “There was no need for this trust vote. In the house, Kejriwal enjoys a majority, however, he has lost the trust of the people of Delhi. There are grave allegations of corruption that plague the Delhi government. So this game is being played to distract people.”
Bidhuri also asked the AAP to cooperate with the Delhi Police on AAP’s charges of poaching.
AAP’s ATTACK ON BJP
Interestingly, during the debate, four AAP MLAs – Kuldeep Kumar, Vinay Mishra. Rajesh Gupta and Somnath Bharti — alleged that they had received overtures from the BJP with lures of money, position and more to break away from the AAP.
Mishra alleged that even his father, Mahabal Mishra, was approached by the BJP with many promises, including that of making him the deputy chief minister. As the debate went ahead, AAP MLAs affirmed that they would stand by Kejriwal and party no matter how great the “lure” from the BJP is.
Amid chants of ‘Arvind Kejriwal Zindabad’, ‘Bharstachar ka ek ki kaal, Kejriwal, Kejriwal’, the chief minister, replying to the debate, launched a sharp and scathing attack on the BJP. Addressing the question of providing proof of the AAP’s allegations, Kejriwal said, “How are we supposed to provide proof when they reach out to us through relatives, friends and say that they will set up a meeting with Amit Shah? Does anyone move with a tape recorder in his pocket? What proof can we give?”
“You may arrest Kejriwal, but how will you arrest his ideology? If you arrest one Kejriwal, one lakh Kejriwals will be born. The manner in which they have targeted AAP, arrested many of our leaders, trying to obstruct our work, threatening us…Chaaron taraf se humle hi humle humare upar kiye jaa rahein hain. Desh ka ek-ek baccha dekh raha hai hi ki ho kya raha hai ye. Saare log dekh rahein hain. Inko lagta hai log bewakoof hain. Log bewakoof nahi hain…”
Referring to Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Sanjay Singh and himself, Kejriwal said, “Our number two, number three and number four are already in jail. Now they are saying we will put number one also behind bars. Such an attack (akraman) has never been witnessed before”.
“This is happening because, today in the entire country, AAP is the biggest challenger of the BJP. Today, if there is a threat to the BJP in the future, it is only from the AAP. Therefore, the BJP is trying any and every method to crush the AAP. Today, I am saying with full responsibility and without any ego that if the BJP does not lose the Lok Sabha election in 2024, then in 2029, the AAP will give this country freedom from the BJP.”
The other reason, he said, is that people believe that the BJP is not able to digest the 2015 and 2020 Delhi defeats. “The two crore people of Delhi stopped the march of the Ashwamedh ghoda, not just stopped it, but reduced the BJP to just three seats in Delhi,” he said.
KEJRIWAL’s CHALLENGE
The chief minister threw an open challenge to the BJP to perform as AAP. “I challenge the BJP to provide free and uninterrupted electricity and in any one state – you have a government in Gujarat for 30 years, Madhya Pradesh for 15 years, Uttar Pradesh for 10 years. In Punjab, there is zero electricity cut within one year. In Delhi, we provide free electricity and without power cuts.”
Similarly, on government schools, he said, “I challenge the BJP to reform 10 schools in Gujarat.”
Kejriwal reeled off other initiatives such as free treatment in hospitals, establishing mohalla clinics, free pilgrimage for the elderly, free bus rides for women, free water, renovation of kacchi colonies, doorstep delivery of free services, doorstep delivery of ration in Punjab and argued that the AAP is “changing the system (vyavastha badal rahein hain)”.
Kejriwal then moved on to narrate how the BJP, failing to match the AAP’s work created hurdles. “Kehtein hain Ram Bhakt hain. Bhagwan Ram ne kabhi nahi kaha tha ki gareebon ke dawai roko, paap lagega tum logon ko, pata nahi kis mitti ke nabe hain? Paap lagega aapko. Bidhuri ji, aap ki partyne jo kaam kia dawain rokne ka, test rokne ka aur saare aspatalon ka ilaaj rokne ka, gandi baat hai, batana aapki party waalon ko. Dushmani mere se hai, dushmani Kejriwal se hai, Dilli ke two crore logon se kyon badla le rahe ho tum log? My heart weeps. I will write about all this one day,” the chief minister said passionately.
He claimed that IAS officers are being warned against cooperating with the government. “Dekhte hain ki zor kitna baazuein kaatil mein hai,” Kejriwal quoted Urdu poet and freedom fighter Bismil Azimabadi to underline his commitment to remove the hurdles in the way of AAP’s initiatives – release of money for the Delhi Jal Board and a one-time settlement policy for water bills among them.
The AAP boss then charged the BJP with “Operation Lotus” to poach AAP MLAs and topple the government. “If any person gives into to the BJP’s pressure and joins it, know that person to be corrupt. And if any person, withstands the BJP’s pressure and refuses to join it, inspite of the ED and CBI putting them behind bars, that person is kattar imaandar,” Kejriwal argued .
Further embellishing his point, the chief minister said, “Sisodia was under tremendous pressure to join the BJP, he was openly offered the chief minister’s post in turn for breaking the party. But Sisodia is not Hemanta Biswa Sarma, he is not corrupt. So he refused saying that he had done no wrong, and at the most he would be behind bars for one to three years, but ultimately he will come out.”
Referring to the BJP’s charge of corruption against the AAP and addressing Bidhuri, the chief minister said, “They have spared no effort to malign us. He (Bidhuri) has given a long list — scams in DTC, classrooms, water, electricity, ration, some button (Bidhuri had referred to panic buttons). I want to know one thing. Tell us how much money have you spent in buying MLAs across the country and where did the money come from? You bought MLAs in Karnataka, MP, Goa, elsewhere… What is the market rate when you were offering Rs 25 crore to these people… I don’t know the market rate in MP, Karnataka… where is this money coming from? You are looking for scams in our Rs 12 buttons and spending Rs 50 crore to buy an MLA?”
“In the initial two-three years, wherever I went they threw ink on me. I have swallowed a lot of insults. After that, they got me slapped, once they threw chilli powder after barging into my office. Now they are saying that they will arrest me. What do you think? If you arrest me, the government will fall. All these MLAs will forsake the AAP? Try doing that also. You have already tried to obstruct work, you formed the Shunglu committee, you changed the laws. Now you have one dream left – to arrest Kejriwal. Fulfil that dream also,” Kejriwal said.
Referring to the speculation that Delhi could be turned into a union territory without an assembly after the Lok Sabha polls, Kejriwal lashed out, “Let the elections be fought on this issue, let the BJP make it clear now whether or not they will do away with the Vidhan Sabha in Delhi.”
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