New Delhi:

BJP Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla hit out at the ruling Aam Admi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and alleged that the party has turned from “fighting corruption to doing corruption”.

Speaking to ANI hours after Delhi Minister Kailash Gahlot quit the AAP, said, “Today the political conversion of the Aam Aadmi Party into ‘Khaas Kejriwal Party’ is once again evidenced when a senior leader of their party, Kailash Gahlot has written a long letter and resigned from the party’s primary membership. It shows how the party has transformed and transmutated from Anna’s (Anna Hazare) leadership and stewardship to Lalu’s leadership. From fighting corruption to doing corruption, from ‘Swaraj’ to ‘Sharab’. No wonder many founding members and senior leaders have left (AAP) one by one. And now Kailash Gahlot has done that,” Shehzad Poonawalla told ANI.

The BJP spokesperson added, “He (Gahlot) has also spoken about how promises were broken and they (AAP members) have forgotten their principles…”

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh claimed that Kailash Gahlot had to take this step as the BJP put an allegation of Rs 112 crores on him and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted several raids on his home in the last few days.

“Kailash Gahlot’s resignation is a part of the BJP’s dirty politics and conspiracy. The BJP government conducted ED raids on him. Income tax raids were conducted at his residence for several days. BJP put an allegation of Rs 112 crores on him. Pressure was created on him, due to which Kailash Gahlot had to take this step. He did not have any option other than joining the BJP,” Sanjay Singh said.

Earlier today, Kailash Gahlot resigned from AAP, citing deep concerns over the party’s direction and internal challenges, saying that the political ambitions within the party have overshadowed its core commitment to serving the people.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi has accepted Kailash Gahlot’s resignation which came ahead of the assembly polls in the National Capital in 2025.

Notably, Mr Gahlot, in his resignation letter, criticised the shift in the party’s focus from advocating for the rights of the people to advance its own political agenda, a shift he said has hindered AAP’s ability to provide basic services to the residents of Delhi.

He highlighted the unfulfilled promise of cleaning the Yamuna River, which remains more polluted than ever, and expressed concern over controversies like the ‘Sheeshmahal’ issue, which, he said, have led people to question whether AAP still upholds its commitment to being a party of the “Aam Aadmi.”

Kailash Gahlot also cited internal challenges and unfulfilled promises, including the failure to clean the Yamuna River. He criticized the party’s shift from serving the people to prioritizing political ambitions, which he said has hindered basic service delivery in Delhi.

New Delhi:

BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla today slammed the Mamata government over another alleged flogging incident in West Bengal, asking whether Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders will visit the victim.

The BJP spokesperson took to his X handle and shared a video of a group of men thrashing someone, captioning it, “Another Horrific Talibani video from Bengal after Chopra talibani flogging.”

He alleged that in the video, a “close associate of TMC MLA is thrashing a girl with his gang.”

Sharing a video on X, Shehzad Poonawala said, “One more Bengal Talibani video has surfaced, which shows that a woman is being brutally beaten by a person who is close to the Trinamool Congress leaders.”

Another Horrific Talibani video from Bengal after Chopra talibani flogging by Tajmul ..

TMC means Talibani Mujhe Chahiye

A close associate of TMC MLA is thrashing a girl with his gang.

Will leader of hypocrisy Rahul Gandhi say a word or visit? What about INDI ALLIANCE… pic.twitter.com/4yoFn1ho8s

— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) July 9, 2024

“Incidents like these are constantly happening. TMC now means Talibani Mujhe Chahiye. And TMC leaders are defending it. They also defended the Chopra incident and the Sandeshkhali incident, for which the Mamata government was also reprimanded by the Supreme Court,” he added.

Criticising the Bengal government for saving the culprits, he said, “Today, the Mamata government has “changed its slogan from ‘Ma Mati Manush’ to ‘Balaatkaari bachao’ (save the rapists), ‘Bhrashtachaari bachao’ (save the corrupt) and ‘Bomb Blast karne waalo ko bachao’ (save the bombers).”

Response of INDI ALLIANCE

SANDESHKHALI – silence

SHAHJAHAN – silence

TAJMUL – silence

CHOPRA INCIDENT – silence

SWATI MALIWAL – silence

KAMARHATI VIDEO – silence

COOCH BEHAR – silence

MAHUA MOITRA TWEET – silence

MANIPUR – vulture politics https://t.co/ja42NYdFJG

— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) July 9, 2024

Slamming the INDIA bloc for its “hypocrisy” of maintaining silence on this issue, Mr Poonwalla said, “The sad thing is that the leaders who talk a lot about women’s empowerment and the others who reach Manipur, like Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, will he go and meet this woman? Will they talk against the Mamata government? Will leaders like Priyanka Vadra, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Aam Aadmi Party speak on this issue? No, it is just a pin-drop silence on the Sandeshkhali, Swati Maliwal, Talibani incident in Chopra and this recent Talibani incident.”

Alleging that the Trinamool leaders have “themselves confirmed” the video, he wrote in his post on X, “THEIR DEFENCE IS THAT IT’S A FEW WEEKS/MONTHS OLD! Is that even a defence? It means TMC, as usual, suppressed the video using threats.”
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

In a fresh salvo, BJP has hit out at Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra for not participating in the ethics committee probe into bribery allegations against her and instead giving TV interviews.

“Instead of going to Ethics Committee, instead of resigning until the probe is over now Mahua Moitra has all the time in the world to give TV interviews & prejudice the proceedings,” BJP spokesperson  Shehzad Poonawalla said.

The Ethics Committee is currently probing allegations against Ms Moitra that she allowed businessman Darshan Hiranandani to access her parliamentary login to post questions directly for Lok Sabha.

The Lok Sabha MP has been accused of taking money to ask questions in parliament, on behalf of the businessman, allegedly designed to target the government and the Adani Group.

In an interview, Mahua Moitra on Friday admitted that she let Mr Hiranandani access to her Lok Sabha account to post questions, but claimed that the questions were hers.

She denied allegations of taking bribes from Mr Hiranandani and demanded that she be given the chance to cross-examine him, in an interview with India Today.

Mr Poonawalla, reacting to Ms Moitra’s interview said, “This is a confession of an egregious action! Whatever spin she may put about OTP, etc it doesn’t cut any ice.”

Chori & then seena zori = Mahua Moitra

Instead of going to Ethics Committee, instead of resigning until probe is over now Mahua Moitra has all the time in the world to give TV interviews & prejudice the proceedings !

Anyway she now admits on tv, that she did gave her…

— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) October 29, 2023

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and Delhi-based lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai have already recorded their statements and presented evidence against the Trinamool MP to the ethics panel.

The panel has said it will call “no more witnesses” after hearing Mahua Moitra, who has been summoned on November 2, and submit its report at the beginning of November.