Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday launched a tirade against  Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the BJP claimed it was in touch with 14 “frustrated” AAP MLAs, asking if democracy for the PM meant forming Government by “buying” MLAs of the Opposition parties.

Kejriwal also asserted that it was not easy to buy AAP members. Tagging a news report, Kejriwal hit out at the BJP in a series of tweets. “Does democracy mean buying other party’s MLAs and forming Government through it to Modi ji.

How does BJP has this amount of money to buy MLAs. Earlier also you have tried to buy our MLAs but it isn’t that easy to buy AAP members,” he said in a tweet. He tagged the same news report in a second tweet and asked senior BJP leader and Union Minister Vijay Goel “why his talks over buying 14 AAP MLAs is stuck, how much are you offering and how much are they asking for”.

Goel on Thursday said the AAP MLAs were “deeply distressed” and ready to quit the party. The AAP has accused the saffron party of indulging in horse-trading in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

“14 of the AAP MLAs are in contact with us and they might soon leave the party because they are frustrated by the work of their own party,” Goel said while addressing media on Friday at Delhi BJP headquarters. “Since the BJP does not have any development issue to raise, it has now come down to indulging in horse-trading by attempting to buy seven of our MLAs at Rs 10 crore each,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said. A day before responding to the BJP leader Vijender Gupta’s allegation that the AAP was distributing pamphlets in Delhi’s slum areas asking people to take money from the BJP and the Congress but vote for the AAP,  Kejriwal said if the BJP is not giving cash to voters, why it is “troubled” on the AAP asking the electorate to “take money from other parties”, but vote for the AAP. Gupta had lodged a complaint in this regard last month, following which the chief electoral officer of Delhi Wednesday issued a notice to Kejriwal, who is the AAP’s national convener.

Sisodia also hit out at Modi for his comment that 40 Trinamool Congress MLAs in West Bengal are in touch with him and will desert their party once the BJP wins the general elections. “It does not suit the PM to make such comments. He (Modi) should realise that India is a democratic country and he is here because of democracy,” the AAP leader said, alleging the BJP is trying to do the same thing in Delhi.