Aam Aadmi Party MLAs on Wednesday protested outside the Central Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Delhi after they were not allowed to meet the agency’s director Subodh Kumar, PTI reported.

The MLAs have been demanding a nationwide Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into alleged attempts by the Bharatiya Janata Party to topple Opposition-ruled state governments.

After the MLAs were denied the permission to meet Kumar on Wednesday, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh said, “This proves that the CBI functions at the behest of the BJP... I had also requested an appointment with the CBI director but I am yet to get any response.”

MLA Atishi, who was among the protesting MLAs, said that the party had sent an e-mail to the Jaiswal seeking an appointment with him but had not received any response, PTI reported.

“We have come here and are demanding that time be given to us [to meet the CBI director] because ‘Operation Lotus’ is a very important issue,” she said.

Describing the alleged poaching attempts as “Operation Lotus”, the Aam Aadmi Party has accused the BJP of offering Rs 20 crore each to its 40 MLAs to lure them to switch sides and overthrow its government in Delhi.

At Wednesday’s press conference, Atishi alleged that BJP has spent Rs 6,300 under its “Operation Lotus” across the country. She claimed that revenue generated from high prices of petroleum products was being diverted to poach MLAs.

“Under step one, central agencies like CBI...are deployed to threaten the political leaders,” Atishi said. “They are subsequently asked to join the party [BJP] with offers of withdrawing these cases...as part of the final step, crores are offered to topple an elected government.”

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was the first to raise such allegations on August 22, days after the Central Bureau of Investigation raided his home in a case of alleged corruption in the Delhi liquor policy.

Sisodia claimed the BJP had reached out to him with an offer to drop cases against him and make him the party’s chief ministerial candidate if he switched sides.

The BJP has dismissed the allegations and accused the Aam Aadmi Party of trying to divert attention from corruption in its government.

On Tuesday, all seven Delhi BJP MPs wrote to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, urging him to start an inquiry into the poaching allegations. The MPs who signed the letter are Manoj Tiwari, Meenakshi Lekhi, Hans Raj Hans, Parvesh Verma, Ramesh Bidhuri, Gautam Gambhir and Harsh Vardhan.

“This is an obvious attempt to divert the attention from their obvious involvement in the liquor and classroom scam among others,” said the letter. “We, the MPs of BJP, are aggrieved at these grossly defamatory and unsubstantiated allegations.”