NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party on Monday accused the BJP of sponsoring the anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh and North East Delhi riots.
Senior AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said: “The BJP won some seats from the North-East in Assembly polls because of Shaheen Bagh, creating a gap between Hindus and Muslims. In Delhi, the BJP rose from 18% to 38% due to Shaheen Bagh. As they could not win the elections they caused riots”.
BJP MP from North East Delhi Manoj Tiwari rejected the charges. “Arvind Kejriwal should stop dividing Hindus and Muslims. The BJP being the world's largest party represents all religions and does not discriminate on the basis of faith, caste, creed, or lineage” he said in a tweet.
Soon after the Delhi polls results, riots broke out in North East Delhi claiming at least 50 lives. The riot was caused due to the clash between anti and pro-CAA supporters.
“The inclusion of the leaders of Shaheen Bagh protest into the party by top BJP leaders has made it clear that the BJP was the creator of the anti-CAA stir there. Those who went to Shaheen Bagh to uphold democracy must also be shocked as they were being cheated,” Bhardwaj added.
During the elections, AAP tried to steer clear from the issue, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on many occasions saying that if a protest is affecting the life of the people then the police should act accordingly to the law. However, Kejriwal was opposed to the new Citizenship law.
On Sunday, Shahzad Ali, a Shaheen Bagh activist joined the Delhi unit of BJP in presence of state party chief Adesh Gupta and National vice president Shyam Jaju. Gupta did not respond to any query from this newspaper.