AAP continues offensive against BJP alleging attempts to topple its govt

AAP continues offensive against BJP alleging attempts to topple its govt

Chandigarh : There is no accused in the FIR registered in the case of attempts to topple the AAP government in Punjab. Though allegations have been made against the BJP for offering Rs 25 crore to the ruling party’s MLAs in the state, the column where the accused is to be named mentions the “accused are unknown”.

The FIR has been registered on the complaint of Deputy Speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Jai Krishan Singh Rouri. Though the FIR was registered on September 14, the state government was unwilling to share a copy of the FIR or its contents. The FIR has been registered under section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and section 120B and 171 B of the IPC.

The FIR, a copy of which is with The Tribune, mentions that nine MLAs, including Rupinder Happy, Sheetal Angural, Raman Arora, Principal Budh Ram, Kuljit Randhawa, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, Dinesh Chadha and Jagseer Singh, besides Deputy Speaker Rouri, were “lured to switch loyalty”.

The FIR also says that the case is being registered after taking a legal opinion.

These MLAs have complained that they were offered Rs 25 crore in cash and ministerial berths by the persons claiming to be BJP members. They have complained that they received telephonic calls from different people, promising to take these MLAs to meet the top leaders of BJP, and make arrangements for their meeting with the BJP leaders.

It may be mentioned that Punjab Cabinet today gave its consent to call the special session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Thursday to bring a confidence motion in wake of the rollout is the “Operation Lotus”.

The one-day session will also see a debate on the issue, and MLAs who have been approached by the BJP for leaving AAP will narrate how they were called and all that transpired, Punjab Local Bodies Minister Inderbir Singh Nijjar told The Tribune after the Cabinet meeting.