Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Friday directed the Anti-Corruption Branch to investigate allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party was attempting to poach Aam Aadmi Party candidates ahead of the Assembly elections, reported PTI.

Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal alleged on Thursday that the BJP had offered Rs 15 crore to 16 of the party’s candidates and promised them ministerial posts if they defected. He made the allegations a day after Assembly elections were held in Delhi on February 5.

“If this party [the BJP] is getting more than 55 seats then what is the need for him to call our candidates?” Kejriwal wrote on social media, alluding to several exit polls that have pegged the BJP to win 45 to 55 Assembly seats.

Following this, the BJP filed a complaint before Saxena, describing Kejriwal’s allegations as “false and baseless”, reported ANI.

In a letter, the BJP’s Delhi unit general secretary Vishnu Mittal urged the lieutenant governor to direct the Anti-Corruption Branch and other investigating agencies to register a first information report and look into the allegations raised by Kejriwal.

On Friday, the Anti-Corruption Branch sent a notice to the former chief minister of Delhi, asking him for details of the 16 candidates who were allegedly offered bribes. Kejriwal was also asked to provide evidence backing the allegations.

Earlier in the day, a team from the branch arrived at Kejriwal’s residence. However, they were not allowed to enter, reported India Today.

“For entering anybody’s residence for investigation or search, the concerned agency must have written orders to do so,” Kejriwal’s lawyer Rishikesh Kumar told ANI. “Entering someone’s property without legal orders is unlawful and is considered trespassing.”

Kumar said that the team did not have any official orders. “Investigative agencies have been reduced to a joke,” he added.

On Thursday, Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Sultanpur Majra and Delhi minister Mukesh Ahlawat claimed in a social media post that he was approached by the BJP.

“I may die, I may be cut into pieces, but I will never abandon Arvind Kejriwal,” Ahlawat said in a social media post. “I was told that their government is being formed and they will make me a minister and give me Rs 15 crore if I leave the AAP and join them. But considering the respect that Kejriwal and the AAP have given me, I will never leave my party till my death.”

Delhi Chief Minister Atishi shared the post and said: “This shows that the exit polls are a conspiracy to break the Aam Aadmi Party MLAs.”

Prior to this, party leader Sanjay Singh also raised the allegations in a press conference, reported PTI. Singh stated that seven party MLAs had received calls or were approached in person with offers from BJP leaders.

“This clearly shows that the BJP has accepted its defeat even before the results and is now resorting to such tactics,” said the Rajya Sabha MP.

BJP’s Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva dismissed the allegations, calling them a sign of the Aam Aadmi Party’s frustration.

“Sanjay Singh should either retract his allegations and tender an apology, or face legal action,” Sachdeva stated. “He should not forget that his party leader, [former] Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, is already facing a defamation case for making similar false allegations.”

BJP leader Praveen Shankar Kapoor had filed a defamation case against Kejriwal and Atishi in April in connection with allegations made by the AAP leaders that the Hindutva party was trying to poach its legislators and topple its government.

Kapoor, the media department chief of the Delhi BJP, claimed that the allegations were false and that the AAP had not produced any evidence to support its claims. He alleged that through such claims, the Kejriwal-led party was trying to divert public attention away from the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.

The BJP leader cited a tweet by Kejriwal on January 27, 2024, alleging that the BJP had offered Rs 25 crore each to seven Aam Aadmi Party MLAs to quit Delhi’s ruling party and topple the government in the national capital.

Atishi, a minister at the time, had alleged on the same day that the BJP had launched “Operation Lotus 2.0” in Delhi. “They had made a similar attempt to poach AAP MLAs last year by offering them money but failed,” she had said.

‘Booth-level data not uploaded’

On Friday, Kejriwal accused the Election Commission of refusing to upload Form 17C, which is a record of voter turnout in every polling station, on its official website despite repeated requests.

He also stated that the Aam Aadmi Party has launched a website – transparentelections.in – where it has uploaded Form 17C provided to it for all Assembly constituencies.

“Through the day, we will present the data of every assembly and every booth in a tabulated format as well so that every voter can access this information,” Kejriwal said in a social media post. “This is something that the election commission should have done in the interest of transparency but it is unfortunate that they are refusing to do it.”

Responding to the post, the office of the chief electoral officer in Delhi stated that all the presiding officers had provided the account of votes recorded in Form 17C to every polling agent present at the polling station on the day of the elections, as per Rule 49S of the Conduct of Election Rules 1961.

“The rule has been complied in letter and spirit at every polling station in ongoing Delhi Legislative Assembly Elections 2025,” said the chief electoral officer.