BJP trying to poach AAP councillors

New Delhi: The BJP is trying to poach AAP councillors ahead of voting to fill a vacant MCD Standing Committee seat, the party’s MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak alleged on Friday.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Standing Committee election will be held on September 26 to fill the vacancy created after BJP councillor Kamaljeet Sehrawat was elected to the Lok Sabha.

Pathak claimed during a press conference that the BJP’s candidate Sunder Singh approached AAP councillor Sanjeev Jha and offered him money to join the saffron party ahead of the election. There was no immediate response from Singh.

“The BJP has been playing dirty politics to break AAP. In the past few days and earlier as well, they approached our leaders and offered them money to join their party. Recently, Sunder Singh approached our councillor from Burari, Sanjeev Jha, and offered him Rs 2 crore to join the BJP,” Pathak alleged.

He said AAP would soon release CCTV camera footage to establish Singh’s presence in Burari, where he claimed the offer was made. The press conference was also addressed by Jha and AAP’s Bawana councillor Ritu Mukesh Solanki’s husband. Solanki’s husband, who did not disclose his name, claimed he was approached by people for convincing his wife to cross vote in the election. AAP has fielded its Sainik Enclave councillor Nirmala Kumari for the election to fill the vacant seat.