The Financial Express
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday withdrew its no-confidence motion against the Arvind Kejriwal government in the Delhi Assembly after it failed to bring together enough lawmakers needed for the no-trust vote to be eligible for discussion.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal won a confidence motion he tabled to prove a majority in the Assembly and claimed that the Opposition wanted to bring a no-trust vote, but could not bring together enough MLAs, as they failed to poach Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators.
”They needed 14 MLAs but had just eight. So they tried to intimidate my lawmakers with the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation, and even threatened to send them to jail like Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain. But nothing worked and they could not poach any of the AAP lawmakers,” said Kejriwal. He added the BJP tried lure AAP lawmakers and offered Rs 25 crore each.
“So, the Opposition BJP withdrew the no-confidence motion, and to counter it, I tabled a confidence motion.”
Kejriwal further claimed that the BJP will be unable to form government in Delhi till 2050. In the 70-member Delhi assembly, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party has 62 votes.
After withdrawing the motion, Leader of the Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said that they will raise the issue of corruption separately in the house.
A day before the Delhi budget session of the assembly that began on March 17, the Delhi BJP decided to bring a no-confidence motion against the Kejriwal government due to its involvement in corruption cases.
The decision to bring a no-confidence motion against the Kejriwal government was taken at a BJP Legislature Party meeting chaired by Bidhuri.
On March 20, Bidhuri submitted the no-confidence motion notice against the Kejriwal government to Delhi Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel.
The BJP, in a statement, said that the AAP government has no moral or constitutional right to be in office as two of its ministers are in jail and facing corruption allegations.
While participating in a debate on a resolution moved in the Delhi assembly demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the allegations against the Adani group, Kejriwal had earlier attacked the prime minister, claiming that Modi was helping the Adani stay afloat despite his companies facing serious stock manipulation allegations.
Kejriwal further levelled serious allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, linking him to industrialist Gautam Adani. “Adani is only a front; just the manager who manages all the money and gets a commission of 10-20 percent. The money is actually Modi’s, and that is why Modi does not want a JPC probe as he will be caught.”
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