NEW DELHI: In yet another friction between the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP workers at a government event, the ruling party accused its rival party of ‘disrespecting’ martyrs, on Tuesday. At a programme organised in Burari, fireman Vijendra Pal Singh who was killed on duty in May of 2017 was honoured by the Delhi government. The Pals were handed over a cheque of `1 cr as per the government’s compensation policy. But, a row broke out soon after a few posters, which had the face of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, were blackened.
The AAP promptly blamed the mischief on ‘BJP goons’ for. “BJP blackened the posters of the program(Shaheed Samman). I appeal to the people of BJP that they have a fight with me and they should at least not disrespect our martyrs,” Kejriwal tweeted, condemning the incident.
However, the BJP washed its hands off, stating that such things is a part of the “petty politics” of Kejriwal and not of the saffron party. “Blackening posters, putting up unnamed fake posters to insult others are the contributions to Delhi politics by the AAP. The Delhi BJP keeps off petty politics. You (Kejriwal) explore opportunities of politics in martyrs honour, not we,” said a Delhi BJP spokesperson.
Later, the Delhi government stated that it is clear from the incident that the BJP doesn’t care about anything, barring its political interest. This shows their level of respect for the martyrs and those who give their life for the motherland, the statement added.
This is not the first incident in the recent past where a government event ended up with both parties accusing each other of petty politics in order to gain an upper hand.Since last month, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been handing out compensations to the family members of officers who were killed on duty in Delhi. Till now six such people have been given `1 crore for sacrificing their lives in the line of duty.