AAP wins trust votes in Delhi assembly

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government led by Arvind Kejriwal passed the floor test in the Delhi Assembly on Thursday amid political infighting over the excise policy in the national capital. The party, which has a 62-seat majority in the 70-member Assembly, triumphed with 58 votes. The BJP had only eight legislators who were absent during the voting.

What happened in the assembly?

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal tabled a confidence motion in the Assembly, accusing BJP of poaching. “In the 3000 years of humankind’s existence, the AAP would have had the most cases against it,” Kejriwal said, before the floor test.”On 48 of our MLAs, there are 179 cases. We are a small party, we are just born. Out of these 179, 134 cases were thrown out, the courts said that there is nothing in these matters,” he added. Earlier, he had alleged that the opposition BJP tried to topple his government by poaching 40 of its MLAs under ‘Operation Lotus’. However, he said the saffron party failed in the process as it could not get any of the AAP MLAs to cross over.

Background

Ever since the drubbing defeat of the BJP in the assembly elections, the AAP and the saffron party have been locked in bitter political battle. The current spate of attacks and counter attacks between the two parties started over alleged corruption in Delhi’s liquor policy. The AAP government accused the BJP of misusing the CBI to topple his government. Recently the CBI searched Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s home. The move comes at a time when the BJP-led central government has raised concerns over the misuse of probing agencies against the opposition. Prior to it, raids were conducted at Delhi minister Sataynder Jain’s houses and offices. Jain is in jail.

‘Operation Lotus’

The AAP has accused the BJP of trying to poach his ministers and leaders. Recently, the party alleged that the BJP offered Rs. 20 cr each to AAP MLAs. The AAP leader said he wants to bring “a motion of confidence in the Assembly to show that the BJP’s “Operation Lotus Delhi” has devolved into “Operation Kichad (mud pile).” The BJP refuted the allegations. Operation Lotus” is allegedly a BJP strategy to destabilize governments in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh.

BJP refutes allegations

The BJP has denied the AAP’s assertions, claiming that the party was engaging in “theatrics” to deflect attention. On Monday, BJP leader Amit Malviya tweeted, “Who has asked for a Confidence Motion in Delhi Assembly? No one. It is just a desperate ploy to distract from the liquor excise (sic).” – INDIA NEWS STREAM