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Paurush Omar

'Didn't have to impose GST on food items if...': Kejriwal accuses BJP of spending ₹6,300 crore in toppling govts

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal speaks during the special session of Delhi Assembly. (ANI)

Kejriwal while addressing the Delhi Assembly laid serious allegations on the ruling party. He said that the BJP is using money collected through GST and hike in petrol and diesel prices to "poach" the MLAs.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener blamed BJP's crores of spending on "poaching" other parties' MLAs, for price rise on necessities in the country. He alleged that the people are facing the brunt of the price rise with the BJP spending crores of rupees on bringing down non-BJP governments in states.

In a tweet in Hindi, Kejriwal said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposed on curd, buttermilk, honey, wheat, rice etc., will fetch 7,500 crore revenue per annum to the Central government. 

"They have spent 6,300 crore so far on toppling governments. They would not have had to impose GST on wheat, rice, buttermilk etc. if they had not toppled governments. People do not have to face inflation," he claimed.

On Friday, Kejriwal had called BJP a "serial killer of state governments".

CM Kejriwal tweeted that ‘BJP is not fighting against corruption’ captioning a video of his speech in the Delhi Assembly. He stated that ‘Operation Lotus’ is in operation to takeover governments.

The tussle has intensified

Recently the political tussle between AAP and BJP accentuated since the CBI registered a case against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and others for alleged irregularities in implementation of the Excise policy on the Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena's recommendation.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia's house was recently raided by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection to the recent multi-crore liquor scam. The CBI is investigating the irregularities in allotment of liquor licenses to private vendors in Delhi.   (Hindustan Times)

The probe agency raided Sisodia's residence in the capital and 30 other locations in the country in connection with the case on 19 August.

The AAP claims that the CBI probe against Sisodia is Centre's tactic to malign Kejriwal's reputation. The party alleged that the Centre put the CBI after Sisodia to dent his image by implicating him in a "fake" case as the the BJP is "terrified" by the growing popularity of Kejriwal and his model of government in the run up to the assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

A day after the CBI raid, Sisodia claimed that the BJP had approached him with an offer to get all corruption charges against him dropped if he switches sides and joins the saffron party. He also claimed that he was offered the chair of Chief Minister of Delhi if he switched sides.

Apart from Sisodia, earlier this week, four AAP MLAs claimed that the BJP leaders approached them offering 20 crore each if they join the BJP. They claimed that they were threatened to have to face fake cases, CBI and ED if they denied the offer.

On Thursday, the AAP claimed the BJP has approached 40 of its MLAs with such offers and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to topple the Kejriwal government in Delhi.

During his address in the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal also claimed that the BJP has bought 277 MLAs till now across the country.

The BJP, however, countered the charge accusing the AAP of making false claims just to divert people's attention from the corruption charges against Sisodia.

(With inputs from PTI)

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