NEW DELHI — A day after a tape surfaced in which Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is allegedly heard speaking of poaching Congress MLAs to form the government, another audio tape emerged today in which he allegedly talks of Muslims having no option other than the Aam Aadmi Party to stop the Narendra Modi juggernaut.
In the audio — recorded before Delhi assembly polls — Kejriwal is heard saying that Muslims don't expect AAP to field many candidates from their community but wants the party to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"If the party thinks that we field 11 Muslim candidates, then forget it. The question is not that AAP is giving 11 seats to people from the Muslim community. Muslims are looking at us in a way that if anyone can stop the Modi rath, then it is only Aam Aadmi Party.
"This is the hope that Muslims have from us. They don't have any hope that more Muslim candidates will be fielded. Do a survey of 2000, 3000 and 5000 people. Do a survey of Muslims. What is the priority?
"This is the hope that Muslims have from us. They don't have any hope that more Muslim candidates will be fielded."
"Today, no one is able to stop the Modi rath in the country. They are forming governments in states one after the other. Today, Muslims are looking at us...if anyone can stop the Modi rath. Congress is over. It has given up. It is not contesting polls. They are asking us to field 11 seats," Kejriwal is heard saying in the tape believed to have been released by a dissident AAP leader, according to a PTI report.
Friday will see another recording revealed, with Congress MLA Asif Muhammad Khan threatening to release a video where he alleges that senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh is offering him a ministerial position to "break the Congress" and support AAP from outside, reports The Indian Express. The paper quotes Asif saying that he didn’t wish to release the recording as the "the meeting had taken place at the residence of a senior journalist who was acting as a go-between".
In a tape that had surfaced yesterday, Kejriwal is purportedly heard talking of poaching six Congress MLAs to form government in Delhi last year.
Here's the latest audio sting of @ArvindKejriwal Part 3. https://t.co/Z0Jn95ePEA 'Muslims will vote for @AamAadmiParty out of fear of Modi.'
— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) March 12, 2015
Is this fair and secular #AK?
AAP only option for Muslims: Another Kejriwal audio tape surfaces http://t.co/jE3Ui86Znl via @htTweets
— Sridhar Sharma (@Sridhar_Salem) March 13, 2015
(With inputs from PTI)