With less than two days to go before the Delhi assembly election results, Kejriwal accused the BJP of trying to lure away his party members. The BJP, however, has denied this and is threatening to take legal action.
Kejriwal took to X (formerly Twitter) to claim that 16 AAP candidates were contacted by the BJP, promising them ministerial positions and ₹15 crore each if they switched sides. He said, “Some agencies are saying the BJP is set to win over 55 seats. In the last couple of hours, 16 of our candidates got calls saying if they leave AAP, they’ll be made ministers and get ₹15 crore each.”
His post came right after some exit polls suggested a big win for the BJP, predicting they could snag between 45-61 seats in the 70-member assembly.
Kejriwal questioned, “If they’re really winning more than 55 seats, why are they trying to poach our candidates? These fake surveys are just a ploy to create doubt among AAP members. Not a single one of them will switch sides.”
Backing him up, AAP candidate and Delhi minister Mukesh Ahlawat said he got a similar offer. He declared, “I’d rather die than leave Arvind Kejriwal.” He added that he was told he’d be made a minister and given ₹15 crore if he left AAP, but he’s sticking with his party for life.
Sanjay Singh, another AAP MP, also spoke out, claiming that seven party MLAs were approached by BJP leaders. He said, “This shows the BJP knows they’re losing and are resorting to these tactics.”
The BJP’s Delhi president, Virendra Sachdeva, dismissed the claims, saying they just show AAP’s frustration over what looks like an electoral loss. He warned Singh to either take back his statements or face legal consequences, reminding him that Kejriwal is already dealing with a defamation case for similar accusations.
Sachdeva also mentioned that AAP has told its candidates to record any such calls and use cameras to document any meetings about these poaching attempts.
Atishi, the AAP candidate from Kalkaji, chimed in too, questioning why the BJP would be trying to poach candidates if they’re really set to win over 50 seats. She called the exit polls predicting a BJP win a “conspiracy” to demoralize AAP candidates.
Voting for all 70 assembly seats in Delhi happened on Wednesday, and the results will be counted on Saturday. This will decide if AAP can keep its power for a third term or if the BJP will finally take control after 27 years.
As for the latest exit polls, Axis My India, which got it right in 2020, predicts the BJP-led alliance will get 48% of the vote, while AAP will get 42%. They estimate the BJP will win 45-55 seats, AAP 15-25, and Congress 0-1.
Today’s Chanakya predicts a 49% vote share for the BJP with 45-57 seats, while AAP might only get 13-25 seats. CNX is even more optimistic for the BJP, forecasting 49-61 seats and a 49.05% vote share, while AAP could end up with just 10-19 seats.
The results of the February 5 elections will be announced on Saturday, February 8.
