BJP vs AAP faceoff | After skipping summons, Kejriwal's dare: 'Even if you put me in jail...'

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is under ED radar and has skipped several of their summonses, Sunday claimed that BJP wanted AAP leaders to join the saffron party. The AAP convenor said he or his party leaders "won't bow down" and even if he is arrested, the development works in the national capital will go on.

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the ongoing developmental works of the Delhi government like building schools and providing free treatment to the people will not stop even if he was sent to jail.

Laying the foundation stone of two school buildings at Kirari here, Kejriwal said, "Manish Sisodia was put in jail because he built schools. Satyendar Jain was sent to jail because he built Mohalla clinics." Kejriwal said all central agencies like ED and CBI have been unleashed on AAP leaders.

"But even if you put Kejriwal in jail, the (ongoing) works of building schools and Mohalla clinics and providing free treatment to the people of Delhi will not stop. The BJP wants us to join their party but we will not bow down," he asserted.

Further attacking the BJP, he said, "It wants us to join their party but we won't bow down." Earlier on Sunday, Delhi Police Crime Branch officials reached the house of AAP leader Atishi and served notice to her in the MLA poaching case. Atishi who was not at home, asked her camp office officials to receive the notice from Delhi Police Crime Branch officials.

According to the notice, the Crime Branch has asked Kejriwal and Atishi to give information on the allegations of poaching levelled against the BJP, given statements by them suggest they were privy to certain information regarding the commission of a cognizable offence. They have been asked to respond to the notice by February 5.

This comes a day after Crime Branch officials served a notice to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to reply within three days in a probe into his claims that the BJP attempted to poach seven AAP MLAs. Responding to the notice, AAP leader Jasmine Shah said the notice does not include anything about a summon or an FIR or any section of the IPC or CrPC. This is just a letter on a white paper, Shah said.

On January 27, Kejriwal and Atishi had claimed that the BJP was trying to poach AAP MLAs by offering Rs 25 crore each and a ticket to contest next year's assembly poll to topple the AAP government. The BJP had rubbished the allegations, terming them "false" and "baseless", and dared the chief minister to furnish evidence to back his claims.

Police have approached senior AAP leaders seeking assistance with the names of the MLAs who were approached by the BJP. "An enquiry is being conducted by Crime Branch, Delhi Police, on a complaint received in respect of the allegations made by you that BJP has offered Rs 25 crore each to sitting MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party for leaving AAP and to join the BJP. These allegations were posted by you on X (formerly Twitter) on January 27," read the notice.

"The plain reading of the said tweet indicates that you are privy to certain information regarding commission of a cognizable offence. Therefore, you are hereby requested to provide answers to the questionnaire enclosed herewith by February 5," the notice read. "Any additional/supplementary information that you may wish to share or which may be deemed by you to be of any assistance for the enquiry, may either be tendered in writing or can be got recorded by the undersigned on the date and venue mentioned above, it added. (With Agency inputs)

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