After a five-hour drama, Crime Branch officials of the Delhi Police on Saturday served a notice on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to reply within three days in a probe into his claims that the BJP attempted to poach seven AAP MLAs.
A Delhi Police officer said, “We have served the notice on him (Kejriwal). He can give the reply in three days in a written form.” The Crime Branch has asked Mr Kejriwal to reveal the names of AAP MLAs who were claimed to have been approached by the BJP.
Earlier, a drama unfolded at Mr Kejriwal’s residence in Civil Lines as a Crime Branch team arrived again on Saturday to serve him a notice in connection with the probe.
Sharing a video of some policemen at his residence, Mr Kejriwal posted on X that he sympathised with the police officers sent to serve him notice and added “it’s their duty to stop crime in Delhi but they are being made to indulge in drama. That is why crime is rising in Delhi.”
He also said in the post, without naming any party or leader, that the “political bosses” are asking him which AAP MLAs were contacted for switching sides.
In an apparent swipe at the BJP, he asked why there was drama on the issue when the party knew who was behind toppling governments of other parties across the country in the last few years by poaching MLAs.
Last week, Mr Kejriwal had alleged on X that the BJP offered Rs 25 crore each to seven AAP MLAs to quit the party in order to topple his government.
Shortly after Mr Kejriwal, Delhi Minister Atishi held a press conference and alleged that the BJP had launched “Operation Lotus 2.0” in Delhi.
“They had made a similar attempt to poach AAP MLAs last year by offering them money but failed,” she said.
After the allegations were made, a delegation of the Delhi BJP led by its chief Virender Sachdeva met Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora on January 30, seeking a probe.
A team of Delhi Police officials reached Kejriwal’s residence on Friday to serve notice but failed with sources saying the men at his home refused to accept it. The team reached the Delhi chief minister’s residence again on Saturday with the notice.
The police sources said the notice was finally handed over to the officials present at the CM residence.
The police team was led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP)-level officer who insisted that they will hand over the notice to Mr Kejriwal only as it is in his name, while officials at the CM’s residence said they are ready to take the notice and give a receiving.
Outside the premises, AAP leader Jasmine Shah was seen trying to seek explanation from a Crime Branch official on the legal provision under which he was insisting on handing over the notice personally to Mr Kejriwal.
“I asked a simple question to the Delhi Police officer standing in front of the entrance of the residence of CM Arvind Kejriwal. Under which law is he insisting to hand over a notice personally to CM? He had no answers. It is clear they are only here to do nautanki (drama),” Shah wrote, posting a video on X.
Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed the police were deliberately not delivering the notice to the CM’s office.
“This is so embarrassing for the Modi government. The BJP is totally exposed today. Yesterday, all BJP spokespersons alleged that the CM office did not receive police notice. Today, they are exposed. The ACP is deliberately not delivering notice to CM office,” he wrote on X.
Another AAP leader, Sandeep Pathak, said, “All officials will now have to learn to say no, no matter how much pressure they face (from the Centre).” AAP Minister Gopal Rai in his Facebook account said the Delhi Police should ask the BJP leaders about the MLAs they had approached for poaching.
AAP sources claimed the police have brought the media with them to tarnish the chief minister’s image.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, in a press statement, alleged that Mr Kejriwal’s behaviour has become like that of criminals. He has no evidence and the allegation of “Lotus 2.0” is a fabricated story to divert attention from his corruption, he said.
BJP leader Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, in the statement, said FIRs should be filed against Kejriwal and Atishi if they fail to prove their allegations. Stringent action should be taken against them, he added.
The development comes a day after a crime branch team visited the chief minister’s residence but failed to deliver the notice.
A Crime Branch team had visited the residence of Atishi also on Friday but could not deliver the notice as she was not present.