Operation Lotus in Delhi? How numbers stack up in Delhi assembly

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New
Delhi,
Aug
26:
Amid
the
ongoing
political
slugfest
over
the
recent
CBI
raids
on
Delhi
Deputy
Chief
Minister
Manish
Sisodia
and
counter
claims
by
the
Aam
Aadmi
Party
(AAP)
that
the
BJP
is
trying
to
topple
the
Delhi
government,
a
special
session
of
the
Delhi
Assembly
has
been
convened
today.

The
special
session
is
likely
to
be
a
stormy
affair
as
the
ruling
AAP
and
the
BJP-Congress
in
opposition
have
been
trading
allegations
of
corruption.

AAP
has
repeatedly
accused
the
BJP
of
plotting
an
‘Operation
Lotus’ to
bring
down
its
government
in
the
pattern
of
Maharashtra,
Uttarakhand,
Madhya
Pradesh
and
Karnataka.

Special
session
of
Delhi
Assembly
today
amid
BJP-AAP
slugfest

On
Thursday,
Kejriwal
summoned
AAP
MLAs
at
his
residence
and
alleged
that
the
BJP
was
trying
to
topple
his
government
by
offering
Rs
800
crore
to
40
of
his
legislators
for
switching
sides.
However,
the
BJP
has
rejected
the
charge
and
said
it
was
an
attempt
by
the
AAP
government
to
divert
people’s
attention
from
the
liquor
“scam”
being
probed
by
the
CBI
and
the
ED.

Meanwhile,
all
eyes
are
now
on
numbers
in
the
state
Assembly.

It
should
be
noted
that
AAP
has
62
MLAs
in
the
70-member
Delhi
assembly.
The
BJP
has
eight
and
needs
28
more
for
a
majority.
Under
the
anti-defection
law,
around
40
MLAs
can
break
away
from
AAP
without
facing
action.

Having
won
Delhi
and
Punjab,
AAP
is
the
only
regional
party
in
the
country
to
have
governments
in
two
states.
Arvind
Kejriwal
has
been
trying
to
expand
AAP’s
footprints
in
states
other
than
Delhi,
including
BJP
bastions
like
Gujarat,
Uttar
Pradesh,
Himachal
Pradesh
and
Goa.
Kejriwal
earlier
this
month
said
the
party
he
formed
in
2012
was
on
its
way
to
becoming
a
national
party.

Operation
Lotus
has
failed,
all
MLAs
are
with
us:
AAP

AAP
is
targetting
states
where
Congress
hadn’t
been
able
to
combat
the
BJP
juggernaut.
Kejriwal’s
party
is
currently
focused
on
making
its
mark
in
Himachal
and
Gujarat
that
would
go
to
the
polls
later
this
year.