Published on: April 05, 11:59 at 12:56 IST
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi minister Atishi gets a Show cause Notice from Election Commission (EC), demanding she substantiate her claims of BJP overtures.
Atishi had stirred controversy with her assertion that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had approached her, along with fellow AAP leaders Saurabh Bharadwaj, Raghav Chadha, and Durgesh Pathak, urging them to defect. She alleged that the BJP’s approach came with the implicit threat of legal repercussions if they refused. The EC, in response, has requested concrete evidence to support these serious allegations.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva escalated the matter by issuing a defamation notice against Atishi, demanding a public apology for what he deemed baseless accusations. Sachdeva emphasized the lack of evidence provided by Atishi and attributed the allegations to the AAP’s purported internal struggles in Delhi.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s political landscape remains fraught with legal entanglements, as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and two senior AAP leaders languish in jail due to a money laundering investigation linked to the erstwhile excise policy. AAP MP Sanjay Singh, previously detained in October, recently secured bail following a Supreme Court ruling.
In a separate development, the Election Commission reprimanded BJP leader Dilip Ghosh and Congress’ Supriya Shrinate for making derogatory remarks, particularly aimed at the dignity of women. The Commission condemned their actions as a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, signaling a zero-tolerance stance towards personal attacks in political discourse.
As the electoral landscape heats up, with accusations flying and legal repercussions looming, the integrity of political discourse faces renewed scrutiny under the vigilant eye of the Election Commission.