The Election Commission has issued a notice to Delhi Minister Atishi regarding her recent statement suggesting that AAP leaders would face arrest unless they joined the BJP.
Atishi has been asked to respond to the notice by Monday, April 8, at 12 noon.
On April 2, Atishi made remarks indicating that four senior AAP leaders, including herself, would soon face arrest. She alleged that the BJP had approached her through an intermediary, urging her to join the party or prepare to be apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate within a month.
During a press conference, Atishi asserted that she, along with Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, MLA Durgesh Pathak, and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, would be among those arrested.
In response to her claims, the BJP issued a defamation notice to Atishi, with Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva later stating that Atishi's statements were false.
According to Bharadwaj, Vijay Nair, an AAP leader implicated in the excise policy case and currently in jail, had made a statement a year and a half ago, which the BJP is now exploiting. This, he argued, reflects the BJP's dubious political tactics.
The ongoing feud intensified after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest on March 21 in connection with a money laundering case related to his government's former excise policy. He has been remanded to judicial custody until April 15.
Accusing the BJP of attempting to impose President's rule in Delhi by enticing AAP legislators and fracturing the party, AAP's Kirari MLA Rituraj Jha claimed he was offered Rs 25 crore to defect to the saffron party.
