Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva on Friday said that it is surprising to see how the fear of the President’s rule is haunting the 62-MLA-strong Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Sachdeva reacted after Delhi Cabinet Minister and senior AAP leader Atishi alleged that the BJP-led central government is orchestrating a big political conspiracy to impose President’s rule in the national capital. She claimed that her party received several indications in this regard.

At a press conference here earlier in the day, Atishi said, “I am cautioning the BJP that the imposition of President’s rule in Delhi will be illegal, unconstitutional, and against the mandate of the people of Delhi. The people of Delhi have given a clear mandate to Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party.”

She further said, “The officers of the Delhi government have stopped attending official meetings. These developments indicate that there is a plot to topple the government of Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and to impose the President’s rule.”

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on 21 March in connection with the excise policy case.

In a rebuttal to Atishi’s allegation, Sachdeva said, “Atishi is raising the issue of President’s rule at the behest of Arvind Kejriwal. It is merely an attempt to intimidate her MLAs to keep them united. It would be better if Arvind Kejriwal resigns on his own and hands over the reins of the government to a new Chief Minister to administer Delhi.”

The Delhi BJP president said Arvind Kejriwal has started feeling the impact of the Delhi High Court’s rebuke, and Atishi too has started feeling the impact of the defamation notice from the Delhi BJP.

“Atishi has today left aside her old fabricated story of ‘operation lotus’ against the AAP and has, instead, woven a new story of imposition of President’s rule in Delhi,” Sachdeva said.

“She has claimed today that the President’s rule is likely to be imposed in Delhi,” the Delhi BJP president said.

Sachdeva said Atishi should clarify whether the departure of a majority of AAP MLAs from her party is the reason behind the government’s fears about losing its majority.

He said it is true that Arvind Kejriwal formed government in Delhi twice after 2013. However, during this period, the people of Delhi gave BJP a big lead in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and the 2017 municipal elections, he added.

“It would not be an exaggeration to say that the same Delhi people, who elected Arvind Kejriwal’s government with a huge majority twice in Delhi, also extended their full support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for forming the government at the Centre,” Sachdeva said.