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The Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch on Friday served a legal notice to Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, seeking details and evidence regarding his allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party attempted to bribe his party candidates ahead of the Delhi assembly election results.
The legal notice comes just a day before the counting of votes is scheduled to take place for the Delhi assembly elections held on February 5.
The notice, delivered at Kejriwal's 5, Ferozeshah Road residence, has intensified the political tensions between AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party, with the former calling it a politically motivated move.
The ACB's notice specifically refers to a post on X by Kejriwal accusing the BJP of offering bribes to 16 AAP candidates to switch sides.
The notice asks Kejriwal to confirm whether the tweet was made by him and provide detailed information on the alleged poaching attempts.
It also seeks the names of the 16 candidates who received phone calls, the phone numbers of those who contacted them and any supporting evidence to substantiate these claims.
"Provide the evidence and proof to support the claim/allegations of the offer of a bribe levelled by you and your party members on various media/social media platforms," the ACB notice reads.
The notice also warns of potential legal action, asking Kejriwal to explain why those spreading such allegations should not be prosecuted for creating "panic and unrest" among the people of Delhi.
"Explain as to why an appropriate legal action should not be taken against the persons spreading such information on media/social media platforms, which is tantamount to creating panic and unrest situations amongst the people of Delhi," the notice reads.
Earlier, high drama unfolded as AAP strongly criticised the ACB's action, calling it an attempt to intimidate the party ahead of the election results.
AAP's legal cell chief Sanjeev Nasiar alleged that the ACB initially had no legal notice and was sitting outside Kejriwal's house without clarity on their purpose.
"They did not have any legal notice at first. After one-and-a-half hours, they served us with a notice. This drama is orchestrated by the LG office in collusion with the BJP. The officers were under pressure," Nasiar claimed.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh backed these allegations, stating that more than 16 AAP candidates had been approached by unidentified individuals attempting to lure them away from the party.
"We have already released the phone number of one such instance and are now filing a complaint. I challenge the BJP to take action against at least one of them," Singh said.
The BJP, however, dismissed AAP's accusations, labelling them as baseless and an attempt to deflect attention from the party's internal troubles.
The controversy erupted after Delhi BJP general secretary Vishnu Mittal submitted a representation to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, urging action against AAP for allegedly spreading misinformation about poaching attempts.
Following this, Saxena directed the ACB to conduct an inquiry, leading to the issuance of the notice to Kejriwal.