New Delhi- The Election Commission (EC) has issued a show cause notice to Atishi, a prominent leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and a minister in the Delhi government, in response to her allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) approached her with an offer to join their party. In the notice, the EC has asked Atishi to provide substantial evidence to support her claims.

According to Atishi, she, along with three other AAP leaders—Saurabh Bharadwaj, Raghav Chadha, and Durgesh Pathak—were allegedly approached by the BJP and given an ultimatum to join their ranks or face potential arrest by the Enforcement Directorate within a month. She stated that the BJP made the offer through a "close associate."

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva responded to Atishi's claims by issuing a defamation notice, demanding a public apology. Sachdeva accused Atishi of failing to provide evidence to support her allegations and suggested that the AAP's recent challenges in Delhi may be driving them to make baseless accusations out of frustration.

The BJP has been continuously launching attacks on the AAP ever since Kejriwal's arrest. Recently, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva stated, "The party that has faith in anarchy instead of constitutional policies, and whose chief is in jail under allegations of liquor scams, is shameful to put his photo with BR Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh. They have crossed all limits... What kind of patriot is Arvind Kejriwal, as they claim? He has just looted and destroyed Delhi."

The defamation notice, issued on April 2, urged Atishi to retract her statements and issue a prominent apology on television and social media platforms. Failure to comply, the notice warned, could result in legal action against her.

Notably, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and two other senior AAP leaders are currently in jail as part of a money laundering investigation related to the erstwhile excise policy. AAP MP Sanjay Singh, who was previously arrested in October, was granted bail by the Supreme Court and released from jail on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Atishi took to her social media handle and alleged that the BJp has put up many objectionable posters against AAP across Delhi. She wrote, " BJP has put up objectionable posters and hoardings across Delhi and EC has not taken any action on this for 6 days. Kejriwal's photo has also been used in many hoardings. Once again a big question has arisen on free and fair elections and level playing field. Today AAP National Secretary Pankaj Gupta ji and I met the Chief Electoral Officer and complained; he has assured that immediate action will be taken. The Constitution has given the Election Commission the responsibility to protect and maintain the country's democracy; in such a situation, we hope that the Election Commission will not remain a political tool of any one political party or the Central Government."

In a separate development, the Election Commission recently rebuked BJP leader Dilip Ghosh and Congress' Supriya Shrinate for making derogatory remarks against the dignity of women. The Commission condemned their comments as a "low-level" personal attack, violating the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct.