Delhi L-G orders probe into BJP's alleged poaching of AAP candidates

Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena on Friday ordered an anti-corruption branch (ACB) probe into allegations by AAP leaders that the BJP had tried to poach its candidates.

The direction to the chief secretary came in response to a representation by Delhi BJP general secretary Vishnu Mittal to the L-G's office.

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP on Thursday of trying to poach his party candidates ahead of the Delhi Assembly poll results on February 8.

The BJP dismissed the allegation and threatened legal action.

In a post on X, Kejriwal claimed that 16 AAP candidates had received offers from the BJP with the promise of ministerial positions and Rs 15 crore each if they switched sides.

"Some agencies are showing that the (BJP) is getting more than 55 seats. In the last two hours, 16 of our candidates have received calls that if they leave the AAP and join their party, they will be made ministers and given Rs 15 crore each," Kejriwal said in his post in Hindi on the microblogging platform.

"If they are indeed winning more than 55 seats, why are they calling up our candidates? These fake surveys are a conspiracy to create an atmosphere to break AAP candidates. But not a single one of them will switch sides," he asserted.