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Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday levelled serious allegations against Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, accusing him of attempting to lure away one of its Punjab MLAs as part of the BJP’s alleged “Operation Lotus” strategy.

Addressing a press conference, AAP’s media in-charge Baltej Pannu and Sangrur MLA Narinder Kaur Bharaj claimed that Bharaj was directly approached with an offer to resign from AAP and join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Bharaj alleged that she was invited to a meeting at which the Haryana Chief Minister personally presented the proposal. “I was called for a meeting where Saini offered to induct me into the BJP. He assured me that I would be fielded as the BJP candidate from Sangrur and even asked whether I had any additional demands,” she said.

The 27-year-old legislator asserted that she sought time before declining the offer. “I have grown up with this party. I began my political journey as a polling agent in 2014 when I was just 19. I would never betray the party that shaped my political career,” Bharaj stated.

Bharaj had made headlines in 2022 when she became one of the youngest MLAs elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. Her victory was widely seen as symbolic of AAP’s appeal among young voters during its sweeping win in the state.

AAP leaders described the alleged outreach as part of the BJP’s broader political strategy, commonly referred to by opposition parties as “Operation Lotus,” a term used to describe attempts to engineer defections in non-BJP-ruled states. Pannu claimed this was not the first time that BJP leaders had tried to “wean away” AAP legislators through inducements.

“Our MLAs remain united and committed to the party’s ideology. Such tactics will not succeed in Punjab,” Pannu said, accusing the BJP of attempting to destabilise elected governments through backdoor political manoeuvres”. The BJP, however, strongly rejected the allegations and dismissed the claims as “baseless and fabricated.”

“No meeting ever took place between the Chief Minister and Narinder Kaur Bharaj. These allegations are completely false,” Haryana minister Krishan Bedi said. He accused AAP of resorting to diversionary politics to deflect attention from what he described as the party’s failure to fulfil its electoral promises in Punjab.

“AAP came to power promising ₹1,000 per month to every woman, among other commitments. Instead of addressing their governance failures, they are making such unfounded allegations to shift the narrative,” he added.

The political slugfest comes amid heightened tensions between the BJP and AAP in Punjab and neighbouring Haryana, where both parties are seeking to consolidate their political ground ahead of future electoral contests.With both sides digging in, the controversy is likely to further intensify political exchanges between the two parties in the coming days.