Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said that he would hold a special Assembly session on Thursday to table a confidence motion, reported The Indian Express.
Mann has called for the trust vote days after the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party offered Rs 25 crore each to at least ten of its legislators in the state. On September 14, the Punjab Police had filed a case in connection with the allegations hours after Kejriwal alleged that the BJP was now trying to buy its MLAs in Punjab.
On Monday, Mann said in a video message that the confidence motion will be tabled just to prove that the Aam Aadmi Party government enjoys trust of the residents of Punjab.
“We will show how much people believe in us,” he said. “Punjab MLAs are standing like a rock behind the people of the state. We all have dreams of a resurrection Punjab and together we will realise that dream.”
The chief minister said that the Opposition parties of the state offer money and other items to lure voters but they trusted and voted for the Aam Aadmi Party, reported The Hindu.
“We will keep this faith intact,” he added.
After the Aam Aadmi Party had made the allegations of poaching, BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh described the claims as the “most ridiculous joke” and demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation should look into the matter.
“AAP is playing politics of ridicule and mimicry to divert people’s attention from the core issues that are putting a grave threat to Punjab,” he had alleged.
The Congress’ Punjab unit had asked the state government to produce evidence on its allegations of poaching.
“There is strong probability of AAP imploding in Punjab with MLAs feeling suffocated, disillusioned and alienated as the power is being wielded and enjoyed by outsiders,” the Congress’ state unit chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring had said.
Last month, the AAP had alleged that the BJP offered Rs 20 crore each to 40 of its MLAs in Delhi to persuade them to switch sides. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party had then sought a vote of confidence in the Delhi Assembly that it won on September 1.
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