Union Minister Kiren Rijiju says "no question of coercion" in 7 AAP MPs merging with BJP in Rajya Sabha

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday denied the allegations of "coercion," saying that all "good people" have left AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, as seven Rajya Sabha MPs switched to the BJP. In an interview with ANI, Kiren Rijiju refuted the allegations of using the Enforcement Directorate against Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal and threatening him to join the BJP. Slamming the AAP, he accused Arvind Kejriwal of turning it into his own "private party" and noted that several leaders have quit AAP in recent years.

He said, "There's no question of coercion. The common man has been robbed in the name of 'Aam Aadmi'. Arvind Kejriwal has taken complete control and turned the Aam Aadmi Party into his own private party. One after another, so many people from the Aam Aadmi Party quit the party and even joined the BJP or Congress." "There is no question of ED. The investigation agency does its work; we cannot comment on it. Now, only his core group, who engage in illegal activities together, remains. All the good people have left Kejriwal," the BJP leader added.

When asked about his "tukde-tukde" jibe at the INDIA bloc after two-thirds of AAP MPs' merger into the BJP in the Rajya Sabha, Rijiju alleged a rift in the alliance, noting that senior leaders from different Opposition parties attack each other on several occasions. "All those who have formed the INDI Alliance belong to 'Tukde-Tukde'. They are not in tandem with each other. They all came together to oppose women's reservation. Then, Rahul Gandhi goes and abuses Arvind Kejriwal. Arvind Kejriwal abuses Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi abuses Mamata didi. They didn't come together on principles. They came together solely to loot and for convenience," he noted.

The trio of MPs--Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal--parted ways with the AAP on Friday and subsequently joined the BJP in the presence of party leadership. Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal had also switched to the BJP. The BJP's strength in the Rajya Sabha increased to 113 after Chairman CP Radhakrishnan approved the merger of Raghav Chadha and six other MPs who quit the AAP.

Losing two-thirds of its MPs has been a big setback for the AAP, which is now reduced to a strength of three members in the Upper House of Parliament. However, MP Sanjay Singh wrote to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat seeking immediate clarification over the alleged unauthorised alteration of his party's position in the Upper House records. He pointed out that, according to the records, the current status of the party and its Floor Leader seems to have been modified without his knowledge.

Meanwhile, Kiren Rijiu backed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in West Bengal in the run-up to the Assembly elections. The Union Minister told ANI, "SIR should have certainly happened because the names of illegal residents, deceased, and people who are not Indian citizens should be removed from the voter list. I don't understand why they oppose this."

The SIR exercise created a stir in West Bengal, with about 90 lakh names deleted from the rolls. TMC had alleged that the Election Commission worked on the behest of the BJP to delete the names of the voters. After a record 93 per cent turnout in the first phase, the second phase of the West Bengal elections will take place on April 29l. The counting of votes is scheduled for May 4. (ANI)

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