Confidence vote in Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Thursday; can't name those behind 'Operation Lotus', says AAP

Chandigarh, September 20

The Cabinet today gave the approval to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to convene a special session of the Vidhan Sabha on Thursday for bringing a confidence motion in the wake of “Operation Lotus”.

The Governor has approved the recommendation for convening the session.

Poaching matter under investigation

The matter is under investigation. Taking names (of the accused) at this stage will hamper the probe and weaken the case against the accused. Senior AAP leader

It is highly unlikely that during the special Assembly session, the government will reveal the names of persons, who called up AAP MLAs with an intention to topple the government.

“The matter is under investigation. Taking names (of the accused) at this stage will hamper the probe and weaken the case against the accused,” said a senior AAP leader. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Inderbir Singh Nijjar said, “The MLAs, who were approached by the BJP, will narrate the sequence of events and all that transpired.”

The police have already registered a case after AAP complained to the DGP, accusing the BJP of trying to poach its legislators. The FIR, a copy of which is with The Tribune, does not mention the names of the accused. The column under the head accused says “unknown”.

AAP legislators have alleged that persons claiming to be members of the BJP offered them Rs 25 crore each and ministerial posts to topple the state government. The case has been registered on a complaint of Vidhan Sabha Deputy Speaker Jai Krishan Singh Rouri.

Though the FIR was registered on September 14, the state government was unwilling to make public its copy, its contents nor the complaint by Rouri. The case has been registered under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 120-B and 171-B of the IPC. The FIR mentions that nine MLAs — Rupinder Happy, Sheetal Angural, Raman Arora, Principal Budh Ram, Kuljit Randhawa, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, Dinesh Chadha, Jagseer Singh and Rouri — have received calls from BJP members.

AAP, while making the allegations last week, had refused to reveal the names of the MLAs who were approached.

The FIR also mentions that the case was registered after taking a legal opinion. The nine MLAs have complained that they received calls from different persons, promising them money and arranging meetings with senior BJP leaders.

Vigilance Bureau officials said the electronic evidence brought on record by the complainant was being examined. “We will first contact the complainant and other MLAs. Once the phone numbers from which the calls were made are examined, we will bring the guilty to book,” an official said.

CM briefs Cabinet about Germany visit

• Only one agenda item was discussed during the Cabinet meeting that lasted more than 90 minutes
• Sources say CM Bhagwant Mann briefed his Cabinet colleagues about his visit to Germany and gave details of meetings with foreign investors
• He reportedly told the ministers that he got a “positive response” from the BMW, when he invited the company to an investors’ summit to be organised in 2024
• No discussion was held on Mann’s delayed return from Germany
• The CM is likely to separately meet the MLAs approached by the BJP

It is a ‘Vote of low confidence’: Warring

PCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has questioned the AAP government’s move to bring in a “vote of confidence” in a special session. “By enacting a theatrical ‘confidence show’, you cannot win the confidence of people. It is not a vote of confidence, but a vote of low confidence,” he said. TNS