BJP Offered Deal To Spare Ministers

Ahmedabad:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday claimed the BJP had offered him a “deal to spare” his ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain who are embroiled in investigations by central agencies, if the Aam Aadmi Party pulled out of next month’s Gujarat elections.

“After Manish Sisodia rejected their offer to be Delhi Chief Minister by leaving AAP, they have approached me now… they have said if you leave Gujarat and don’t contest there, we will spare both Satyendar Jain and Sisodia and drop all charges against them,” Mr Kejriwal said at an NDTV Townhall.

Asked who made the offer, Mr Kejriwal said, “How can I name one of my own… the offer has come through them… see they (BJP) never approach directly. They go from one to another, to another, to another, to a friend, and then the message reaches you.”

The AAP chief said the BJP was scared of losing both Gujarat elections and the closely watched municipal polls in Delhi and had pulled out all stops to defeat his party.

Mr Kejriwal predicted the AAP would form the next government in Gujarat, while the opposition Congress would get fewer than five seats in the 182-member assembly.

He said the AAP was “already No. 2” in the race, far ahead of the Congress, and would surpass the BJP in the next one month before Gujarat votes.