NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal's vote for confidence in the government was approved by the Delhi Assembly on Thursday, despite a walkout by five BJP legislators after some of their party's members were escorted out of the chamber after a dispute with the deputy speaker.
While all the AAP MLAs present in the House voted in favour of the motion as expected, there was no vote against it due to the absence of BJP legislators.
Vijender Gupta, Abhay Verma, and Mohan Singh Bisht, three BJP legislators, were escorted out of the chamber as they "argued" with Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla over her refusal to take up their calling attention notifications prior to a discussion on the motion. Soon after, the remaining lawmakers left in protest.
In the Assembly, Kejriwal also discussed the approaching Assembly elections in Gujarat, noting that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids against his deputy Manish Sisodia have raised his party's vote share there by 4%. He said this vote share will increase by 2% 'if Sisodia is arrested'. ''The CBI raided Sisodia, went to his house and searched his bank locker. CBI said they did not find anything against him but they are under pressure to arrest him,'' Kejriwal claimed.
He said, Sisodia and the AAP have received a "certificate of honesty" from the prime minister. Kejriwal also claimed that the BJP tried to buy MLAs from his party, but none of them took them up on the offer. He said that there are currently only two parties at the national level: "Kattar Imandar (hardcore honest) party and Kattar Beimaan (hardcore corrupt) party," in an effort to position the AAP as a rival to the BJP. He added that the "hardcore honest" party had more people with high educations and legitimate IIT degrees than the "completely corrupt" party.
They are paying 20 to 50 crore rupees to purchase MLAs. If I want to construct schools and hospitals, am I breaking any rules? Kejriwal questioned. The chief minister went on to say that both of his children attended the Indian Institutes of Technology and that he wants to give "every child in India" access to the same education.
"Politics should not affect Delhi's law enforcement or the protection of its women." We will provide the Lieutenant Governor and the Center our full assistance on this," he said.
In response to LG Vinai Kumar Saxena's threat to sue the AAP for making corruption claims against him, Kejriwal said, "We should welcome any probe if we are in public life."
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