Chandigarh, Feb. 13 -- The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday accused Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini of attempting to lure its Sangrur MLA Narinder Kaur Bharaj into joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Punjab. Saini, on his part, dismissed the allegation as baseless saying he doesn't even know the MLA. Addressing a press conference along with AAP Punjab state media in-charge Baltej Pannu at the party office here, Bharaj alleged that she was approached by Saini and offered inducements to resign from the AAP and join the BJP. "A few days ago, Saini tried to tempt me with a BJP ticket from Sangrur and said that whatever demand I had would be fulfilled," she alleged, calling the "poaching attempt" part of the BJP's "Operation Lotus". Bharaj, a first-time MLA, claimed that the BJP leader made the offer, but she asked for time before responding. "I will never betray my party. The way Saini Sahib has been roaming the streets of Punjab, it seems the BJP has sent him to the state on deputation. My advice to him is to stop worrying about me or Punjab and take care of Haryana," she said. Pannu also accused the BJP of once again unsuccessfully trying to crush democracy in Punjab through 'Operation Lotus'. Saini, one of the BJP's prominent faces spearheading the party's outreach in poll-bound Punjab, has been making frequent trips to the state, addressing party rallies and attending a range of social and community functions. The Punjab assembly polls are due early next year. This is not the first time the ruling AAP, which has an overwhelming majority in the Punjab assembly, has accused the BJP of attempts to poach its legislators. In September 2022, the AAP had alleged that the BJP offered Rs.20-25 crore to its MLAs in an attempt to topple the state government. Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema had claimed that the BJP, under its "Operation Lotus", approached 10 legislators with offers of Rs.25 crore each. Cheema and some party MLAs later also submitted a complaint to DGP Gaurav Yadav against "BJP leaders and agents" for allegedly offering money to the party legislators. An FIR was registered at the state crime police station in Mohali on their complaint, but there was little progress thereafter. In March 2024 also, three AAP MLAs alleged that the BJP, even after the implementation of the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections, was trying to poach MLAs and other leaders of the party in Punjab. The BJP categorically denied all their allegations each time, dubbing these as AAP's theatrics. Reacting to allegations, Saini said that he neither knows the name of the MLA nor he is aware about the constituency she represents. "I don't even know who that MLA is," he said, adding that he goes to Punjab on the invitation of people as they are unhappy with the AAP government in Punjab. "People of Punjab are watching everything," he added. The Haryana CM said identical accusations were made by the AAP government against the BJP in Delhi also. People of Delhi had proved that the AAP government is a "shop of lies" bigger than that of the Congress, he said, adding: "That is why people of Delhi wiped AAP out of power...Now, people of Punjab have made up their mind to oust the AAP from Punjab..."....