As 8 Congress MLAs in Goa join BJP, in Punjab, AAP lodges complaint with DGP about plan to topple government

Cheema’s move to lodge a complaint, along with evidence, on Wednesday came a day after he had alleged that AAP MLAs in the state were being offered Rs 20 crore to Rs 25 crore to join the BJP. Even as AAP MLAs in the state put up a united front before the media, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in a video from Germany, exhorted them not to be disloyal to their “motherland”.

“They tried this Operation Lotus in Delhi also but it failed. No MLA was sold,” Mann said in a video message from Germany, where he is participating in a trade expo. Mann said he wanted to tell the BJP that “Punjabis are loyal to the motherland”.

“I want to tell them (BJP) that Alexander was stopped by Punjabis when he was out to win the world. I am sure our MLAs will be loyal to their motherland. They would not be sold, stopped and buckled. The BJP thinks that if they cannot get voted to power through democratic process, they can grab power using money. I am sure my colleagues would show their loyalty towards the motherland, I have no doubt on their loyalty. Together, we have dreamt of resurrecting Punjab. We will realise that dream. The BJP is unable to fathom the good work of AAP. That is why they are resorting to all this,” Mann said.

In Punjab, addressing a press conference, Cheema said that Operation Lotus had failed in the state. “If anyone is challenging BJP then it is AAP. BJP will not succeed in this. Legislators are with AAP and Arvind Kejriwal. They would not quit AAP even if Rs 2,500 crore is given to them,” he said.

Before lodging a complaint with the DGP, Cheema, flanked by Deputy Speaker in Vidhan Sabha Jai Krishan Singh Rori and MLAs Budh Ram, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, Kulwant Singh Pandori, Dinesh Chadha, Narinder Kaur Bharaaj, Taranpreet Singh Sond, Raman Arora, Pushpinder Singh Happy, Rajnish Dahiya, Kuljit Singh Randhawa, Sheetal Angural and Labh Singh Ughoke addressed the media.

Cheema said that all the MLAs with him had proof that they had got calls (from BJP). “I am not revealing that. We want to give it in our complaint first. Then we will make it public,” he said.

Cheema said that Jalandhar MLA Sheetal Angural had received a threatening call on Tuesday warning him that he should not make the evidence of BJP calls to him public. “He was threatened to be eliminated. We are going to the DGP with all evidence,” Cheema said.

The BJP’s claims that he was lying have fallen flat, Cheema said, after Congress MLAs from Goa jumped ship and joined BJP. The developments in Goa on Wednesday were proof that BJP was moving ahead by launching its Operation Lotus in non-BJP states, he added.

Later, Cabinet minister Aman Arora also addressed the media and stated that all MLAs were with Kejriwal and Mann and they would not let BJP’s designs come true.

The state BJP unit on Wednesday “welcomed” AAP’s move to lodge a complaint, saying “the guilty must be exposed” but questioned why Cheema did not disclose names of MLAs who got such calls and why they had not lodged an FIR till date.

“We welcome the step of AAP to lodge a formal complaint before the DGP…Let the whole issue be inquired (into) and the guilty be exposed before the masses. Only then will the truth come out as to who had made the phone calls,” Anil Sarin, chief spokesperson of BJP Punjab, said.

“Go, get an FIR lodged…police is yours, sarkar is yours…let people be exposed. BJP will not run away…,” state BJP president Ashwani Kumar Sharma said. Reacting to the AAP allegations that BJP’s Operation Lotus had failed in Delhi, Sharma said, “Even in Delhi, they did the same drama. They could not prove anything but only distracted…same plot is being played now.”

Meanwhile, BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh demanded a CBI probe into the allegations made by the AAP leaders.

(With inputs from Raakhi Jagga)