BJP trying to topple AAP govt, impose President's rule in Delhi: Atishi

New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) Senior AAP leader and minister Atishi on Tuesday accused the BJP of conspiring to topple the Kejriwal government through "back door" by imposition of the President's rule in Delhi.

The accusation comes a day after the President's secretariat forwarded the assertions of opposition BJP that Delhi was facing a constitutional crisis to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for "proper attention".

Talking to PTI, Atishi said that if the Kejriwal government is toppled, the Delhiites will give a befitting reply by giving zero seats to the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will win all the 70 seats.

A memorandum of Delhi BJP MLAs submitted to President Droupadi Murmu on August 30 seeking dismissal of the AAP government in Delhi over "violations" of the Constitution has been forwarded to the MHA for "proper attention", Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Gupta said the Kejriwal government must respond to issues raised in the memorandum and alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was playing "victim card" and "misleading" people over the issue.

Atishi said the BJP's only job is to topple the elected governments in the country through its "Operation Lotus" as happened in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Manipur.

"They also tried Operation Lotus in Delhi to topple the government by poaching the AAP MLAs, but they failed. Now, they are conspiring to impose the President's rule through the back door to topple the popular government of Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi," she alleged.

Atishi said that people of Delhi "love" Kejriwal because he provided them good schools, hospitals, electric buses, free bus travel to women and free pilgrimage to the elderly.

"If the BJP topples the Kejriwal government, the people of Delhi will give it a befitting reply. The BJP will lose even the eight seats it holds now and will be reduced to zero in the upcoming assembly polls and the AAP will win all the 70 seats," she said.

The elections to the 70 seats of the Delhi Assembly are due early next year.

The delegation of the BJP MLAs in the meeting with the President discussed the constitutional crisis in Delhi due to the "continuous violation of constitutional norms" by the Delhi government and submitted the memorandum demanded its dismissal, Gupta said in the press conference.

Gupta earlier on Monday shared a letter from the President's secretariat to the MHA for "appropriate attention" on the BJP MLAs memorandum and said that he has also urged the Union Home Secretary to take "immediate and appropriate action" on the matter.

The AAP government has "violated" the Constitution by not forming the Sixth Delhi Finance Commission, which has led to a "chaotic financial situation" before the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Assembly session has not been convened for the past five months, he said.

Minister Atishi has been holding onto 11 CAG reports for a long time, which should have been tabled in the Assembly. "By not doing so, the government is violating the constitutional norms," he charged.

Gupta further claimed that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is in judicial custody in the excise policy case, is trying to run the government from prison.

"For the past five months, no files have been signed and no cabinet meetings have been held," he claimed.

Senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj in a press conference said it seems the BJP has perhaps conducted some survey and has realised that it cannot win the elections against the AAP.

"They (BJP) have their own President, MHA, LG and the delegation. If they decide, it (President's Rule) will happen. They all are one," Bharadwaj alleged.

Gupta hit back, saying the AAP government in Delhi has "repeatedly violated constitutional norms" and it has no right to remain in power which was why the BJP has demanded its dismissal. PTI