By PTI
NEW DELHI: After a news channel aired a video claiming that one candidate of the TMC and three of the Congress have taken bribes to join the ruling BJP after the Goa Assembly polls, the AAP on Sunday said it is an “eye-opener” for the people of the coastal state and called upon them to vote for its candidates, saying they will not switch sides.
The 40-member Goa Assembly will go to polls on Monday.
Latching on to the news channel’s claim, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson Raghav Chadha said it has made it clear that the votes cast for the Congress will go to the BJP’s kitty once again.
In 2017 also, “most of the Congress MLAs” had switched sides and joined the saffron party, he pointed out.
This comes a day after the channel broadcast a video claiming that one candidate of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and three of the Congress have taken bribes to switch their allegiance if they emerge victorious in the election.
“A news channel, carrying out a sting operation, has exposed how the Congress and the TMC candidates, ahead of the election, are taking money to switch over to the BJP. This sting operation is an eye-opener for you. See and think if your votes for the Congress are reaching the BJP,” Chadha said in a video message.
“It is my request to all Goans, do not waste your votes. Your votes are invaluable. Your votes will decide the future of Goa. Vote for the Aam Aadmi Party. The Aam Aadmi Party MLAs will not go to the BJP fold. The Congress and TMC (MLAs) will go,” he added.
Earlier in the day, both the TMC and the AAP lodged complaints against each over the sting operation video broadcast on the channel.
AAP’s Panaji candidate Valmiki Naik said his party has filed a complaint with the chief electoral officer of Goa so that authorities are made aware of the video.
TMC’s Benaulim candidate Churchill Alemao, who is one of the leaders accused of taking bribe according to the video, lodged a complaint with the chief electoral officer demanding that the clip be removed from all platforms, and also got an FIR lodged against the AAP and the channel.
Alemao claimed that the AAP has violated the “silent period”, the phase between the end of campaigning, which in Goa’s case was Saturday evening, and voting, which is scheduled for Monday.
Naik denied that the silent period was violated, claiming that he had not indulged in any kind of campaigning.
TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev also got a complaint filed against Naik and AAP’s Delhi MLA Atishi, who is in-charge of her party’s political affairs in Goa.
