In 15 days, Jharkhand govt may collapse & fuel prices will go up...says Kejriwal | Top Points

New Delhi, Aug 29: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday tabled a confidence motion in the Delhi Assembly, saying it was meant to prove that 'Operation Lotus' could have been successful in other states but failed here as all AAP MLAs were ''hardcore honest''. Maintaining that the BJP's 'Operation Lotus' to topple his government failed as it could not poach any of the AAP MLAs, Kejriwal alleged that the BJP will try to topple the Jharkhand government in the next 15 days.

Here are the top developments:

• The Delhi chief minister - who over the last week has repeated several times that the rival party tried to "buy" his party's MLAs - on Monday yet again said that the 'Operation Lotus' has failed in the national capital. ''12 MLAs were offered Rs 20 crore to quit AAP & join BJP, but our MLAs are honest & failed 'Operation Lotus','' Kejriwal informed the assembly.
• Challenging the BJP to buy even one MLA of the AAP, Kejriwal said, ''The confidence motion is to show that 'Operation Lotus' could have been successful in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states but failed here in Delhi. It is also to show that every AAP MLA is hardcore honest''.
• Kejriwal accused the Centre of waiving loans of billionaires but not that of students and farmers. The present central government is the ''most corrupt'' one as they buy MLAs, he alleged.
• The AAP convenor also linked the collapse of the non-BJP governments in the states - over the last few years - to inflation. ''In 15 days they (BJP) will try to topple Jharkhand govt & fuel prices will go up; money from fuel rate hike spent on buying MLAs,''Kejriwal said. He further charged that the BJP toppled Manipur, Bihar, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra governments. At some places they even paid Rs 50 crore, he alleged.
• It should be noted that the AAP has 62 MLAs in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, while the BJP has eight.
• Kejriwal held the Centre responsible for price rise and said it was due to high taxes imposed by the central government. ''Even curd, lassi, wheat and honey have been taxed. This is something which didn't happen in the last 75 years and even under the British rule. They are using this money to waive loans of their billionaire friends,'' Kejriwal alleged. He said the issue of price rise will be solved if the Centre recovers from its billionaire friends the loans it has waived. ''They are sucking people's blood by imposing taxes but are not spending it for public good like construction of schools and hospitals,'' he said.
• Reacting to a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) report on construction of classrooms and toilets in Delhi government schools, Kejriwal said the BJP is now saying that the AAP government has constructed more toilets. ''Yes, we constructed more toilets in government schools for our daughters. What wrong did we do? They did not find anything in the (CBI) raid but they will still arrest (Deputy Chief Minister Manish) Sisodia. Now the excise case is over so classrooms are in focus,'' he said.
• Citing the CVC report sent to the Delhi government's vigilance department in 2020 seeking comments for further investigation and action into construction of additional classrooms in city government schools, the BJP alleged earlier in the day that the AAP dispensation hiked the construction cost by Rs 326 crore -- 53 per cent more than the original tender amount -- without floating a new tender.

Last week, LG Saxena sought a report from the Delhi chief secretary over a delay of more than 2.5 years in acting on the report which found gross irregularities and procedural lapses in execution of the projects.

Hitting out at the Kejriwal government for tabling the confidence motion, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said it is a ''misuse of public money and resources''. He said 62 of the 70 MLAs in the House belong to the AAP and yet they brought a confidence motion and got it passed in the Assembly.

''What do you think of the people of Delhi? It is sheer misuse of public money and resources. If you have to bring a motion, then bring one on the corruption done in the construction of classrooms in schools,'' Tiwari said.

The assembly proceeding will resume at 11 am on Tuesday.