NEW DELHI: With seven AAP MPs in the Rajya Sabha crossing over to the BJP, the Congress on Monday said the Arvind Kejriwal-led party’s mask had come off, alleging that it is a party of billionaires that allotted Rajya Sabha seats on the basis of money.Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has functioned as a proxy of the BJP to counter the Congress in states such as Punjab and Gujarat.“How will the BJP answer this that six Punjab MPs have now joined BJP which got just over six per cent of votes in the Punjab assembly polls,” the Congress treasurer said.“I have always said AAP is the B-team of the BJP. They should change their name from Aam Aadmi Party to ‘Arabpati Aadmiyon ki party (party of billionaires)’,” Maken said at a press conference.He claimed that Sushil Gupta, when he was in the Congress, told him before leaving the Congress that his “setting” with the AAP had been done and he would be given a Rajya Sabha seat.“This is a party which did not give Rajya Sabha seat to Prashant Bhushan, Ashutosh, Yogendra Yadav, but for money. So, if this is done on the basis of money this had to happen,” Maken said.He alleged that the AAP is “anti-national” as it got money from separatist elements in Punjab.
“The net worth of per MP of those seven who have left AAP for BJP comes to 818,50,35,420,” he claimed.His remarks came on a day Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan officially accepted the merger of seven AAP MPs with the BJP, reducing the strength of Arvind Kejriwal’s party in the Upper House to three.Following this development, the BJP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha has increased to 113.The seven MPs who have merged are Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Vikramjit Sahney, Swati Maliwal and Rajinder Gupta.The Rajya Sabha website now reflects that the seven MPs are listed as part of the BJP.The seven MPs had on Friday submitted a petition to the Rajya Sabha Chairman seeking to be recognised as BJP MPs, which was accepted, sources said.The AAP, meanwhile, on Sunday filed a petition before the Rajya Sabha Chairman seeking the termination of the membership of the seven MPs who switched sides.AAP MP Sanjay Singh said he has submitted a petition to Chairman Radhakrishnan seeking the disqualification of the seven party MPs in the Upper House, who recently quit the AAP and announced their merger with the BJP.On Friday, the AAP suffered a setback when seven Rajya Sabha MPs quit and announced their merger with the BJP, alleging that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had strayed from its principles, values and core ideals.(With agency inputs)
