Dhawan said that Maurya was still with the party as he had not taken up the formal membership of the Congress. He, however, refused to comment over his earlier allegations that two BSP councillors were “bought” by the Congress. “I never made any such statement,” he said. He even refused to comment over the allegations that the Congress had even offered Rs 25 lakh to the husband of a BSP councillor. “The complaint is with the UT SSP and now he will have to look into the issue,” he said.

When the mediapersons asked Maurya where he was during the period from December 25 to January 1, Dhawan did not let him speak. “Maurya has told me what happened during that period but we do not want to disclose it at the moment,” he said.

Expressing his anguish over the way BSP councillor Vijay Singh Rana had left the party, Dhawan said till the filing of nomination Rana was with him. “We had decided about Jatinder Bhatia’s candidature on his request. After filing the nomination, he joined the Congress next day,” said Dhawan.