BJP washing machine back with Modi washing powder: Cong

The Congress accused the BJP of using a “washing machine” to induct opposition leaders after seven AAP MPs switched sides to the BJP. Jairam Ramesh criticised the move, while AAP leaders alleged betrayal and called the defectors “traitors.

New Delhi: A day after seven AAP MPs switched sides to the BJP, the Congress on Saturday said the BJP washing machine is back, along with Modi washing powder.

The Congress has been accusing the BJP of inducting leaders of various other parties facing cases and then taking slow action against them. Ashok Mittal, one of the seven AAP MPs who quit, had faced Enforcement Directorate raids only a few days ago.

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“The BJP washing machine is back, along with the Modi washing powder. Those who projected themselves as paragons of virtue, integrity, and ideology stand brutally exposed,” AICC general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

The Aam Aadmi Party suffered a jolt on Friday as seven of its Rajya Sabha members – Raghav Chadha, Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikram Sahni and Swati Maliwal – quit the party and merged with the BJP. They alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals. Though Chadha and Maliwal had fallen out of favour of the AAP, the move by the other five MPs to switch sides came as a surprise to many.

The exits were announced at a hurriedly called press conference, after which AAP chief Kejriwal alleged that the BJP had betrayed the people of Punjab while state Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann termed the seven MPs “gaddar” (traitors).