Kejriwal now claims BJP offered to spare Sisodia, Jain if AAP backs out of Gujarat polls

New Delhi, Nov 05: A day after the dates of Gujarat assembly polls were announced, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made a big claim that the BJP had tried to strike a deal with him by offering to spare his minister Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, who are being investigated by central agencies if AAP backs out of the upcoming elections.

When asked to name the ones who offered him the deal, he said that the BJP never approaches directly but 'they go from one to another, to another ...'.

"After Manish Sisodia rejected their offer to be Delhi Chief Minister by leaving AAP, they have approached me now... they have said if you leave Gujarat and don't contest there, we will spare both Satyendar Jain and Sisodia and drop all charges against them," the AAP convener is quoted as saying at an NDTV event.

On asking about through whom the offer was made, he did not name rather stated that it came indirectly for him. "How can I name one of my own... the offer has come through them... see they (BJP) never approach directly. They go from one to another, to another, to another, to a friend, and then the message reaches you," he added.

While Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is being investigated by the central agency in money laundering case over alleged irregularities in the now scrapped excise policy, Satyendar Jain is under scanner in the money laundering case based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR lodged against the AAP leader in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases next month - on December 1 and 5 - while votes will be counted on December 8.

This time, the BJP, which has been in the power since 1995, is expected to get serious competition from the AAP, which is hoping to create history after its brilliant victory in Punjab earlier this year.