Agnipariksha of Arvind Kejriwal: Delhi CM to vote today to defeat 'Operation Lotus'

Arvind Kejriwal: Delhi CM

After alleging that the BJP attempted to destabilise his government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is set to table a confidence motion in the Delhi assembly today.

The special session of the Delhi assembly on Monday is expected to be contentious, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal preparing to introduce a confidence motion in the House just days after alleging that the BJP attempted to poach legislators from his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

After the motion is tabled at 11 a.m., the AAP government will conduct a floor test to demonstrate that his party's MLAs did not cross over. In the 70-member Delhi assembly, the AAP has 62 MLAs and the BJP has eight.

Kejriwal described the BJP as a "serial killer" on the prowl in a blistering attack last week. He accused the BJP of plotting to destabilise his Delhi government by offering Rs 20 crore to several AAP MLAs to defect or by filing CBI and ED cases against leaders to break them.

"I want to bring a Motion of Confidence in the assembly so that it can be proven in front of the people of Delhi that the BJP's 'Operation Lotus Delhi' has turned into 'Operation Kichad,'" Kejriwal said during Friday's assembly proceedings.

The AAP's allegations about the BJP's alleged 'Operation Lotus' come as the latter continues to target the ruling party in the aftermath of a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities in the Delhi government's now-cancelled Excise Policy 2021-22.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the excise portfolio and is an accused in the CBI's FIR, has also claimed that the BJP offered him the chief ministership in exchange for switching sides.

Kejriwal had previously mocked the BJP for shambolic planning and their subordinates for their lack of preparedness, saying, "As part of their conspiracy, they targeted Manish Sisodia first." They planted a bogus case against him, claiming that he had squandered funds under the guise of excise policy."

Meanwhile, the BJP has accused the AAP chief of using the assembly to spread political propaganda and engage in drama in order to divert public attention away from his government's liquor "scam."

 BJP leaders also claimed that Kejriwal has been making claims about alleged attempts to poach AAP MLAs since his party's election to the Delhi Assembly in 2013.