Punjab Aam Aadmi Party president Bhagwant Mann on Sunday claimed a senior BJP leader ”offered him money” and a place in the Union Cabinet to join the saffron party ahead of the state assembly polls next year.
Reacting to Mann’s allegations, Punjab BJP leader Subhash Sharma dared him to make the name of the leader public. He claimed Mann’s statement is his ”own creation” to ”increase” his importance in his party as AAP has not declared him as its chief ministerial face till now. Addressing the media here, the Sangrur MP earlier in the day claimed the BJP is contacting AAP party MLAs to woo them.
The two-time MP asserted that he could not be bought with money or anything else as he accused the BJP of doing a ”politics of manipulations”.
Without naming anyone, Mann claimed the senior BJP leader contacted him four days ago and asked him, ”Mann sahab, what would you take to join the BJP?” He alleged that he was also asked if ”you need money”.
The AAP leader further claimed that he was told that if he joined the BJP, he would be made a Union cabinet minister with the portfolio of his choice.
Mann said that he was told that since he was a lone MP of AAP, the anti-defection law cannot apply, he said.
”I told him that I am on a mission and not on commission,” said Mann.
He said he told the BJP leader that there might be others ”whom you could buy”.
Mann said he could not be bought with money or anything else.
When asked to name the BJP leader, he said he will disclose it when the time comes.
He asked the BJP to remove this misunderstanding that he could be bought.
The AAP leader claimed the BJP has no base in Punjab.
He said the BJP leaders were not being allowed to enter villages and cities for holding any meeting or a rally over the farm laws that were repealed by the government last week.
He alleged that the BJP knew the politics of ”horse trading”. ”They did this in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and Meghalaya and now they think this can be done in Punjab too,” he said.
He further said they were trying to woo him with such offers as they knew no central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI could find anything against him.
Reacting to the allegations, Punjab BJP leader Subhash Sharma accused Mann of making ”baseless statements” and dared him to make the name of the leader public.
”I challenge Mann sahab to make the name of the leader public in order to know the truth but he will not do so because it is the habit of AAP to level false accusations and then run away,” he said. He claimed Mann’s statement is his ”own creation” in order to increase his importance in his party as the AAP was neither announcing him as the chief ministerial CM face, nor giving him any importance.
He wanted to come into the limelight by making baseless statements, the BJP leader said.
Meanwhile, replying to a question on Punjab Congress chief Navjot Sidhu who joined the sit-in protest of Delhi guest teachers demanding regularisation of their jobs outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence, Mann said AAP after coming to power in Delhi raised the salary of guest teachers to Rs 36,000.
He said guest teachers were getting Rs 6,000 during the Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government.
He said the Delhi Vidhan Sabha had even passed a bill to regularise their services in 2017 but the Delhi Lieutenant Governor rejected it.
He said AAP is making promises to people of Punjab as it enjoys full statehood and whatever decision is taken by the Vidhan Sabha is final.
He further said many protesters whom Sidhu joined were not teachers.
Replying to a question, Mann said the Charanjit Singh Channi government should give an account of its promises made to people before 2017.
Replying to a question on rival parties targeting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s visits to Punjab, Mann said there is no ban on the AAP national convener from coming here.
The rival parties are scared of Kejriwal, claimed Mann.
To a question on the chief ministerial face, Mann said AAP will announce its CM face before other political parties do.
