NEW DELHI: “I will fight for this country till my last breath, no matter who attacks me,” said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a defiant note on Wednesday, after he narrowly escaped an attack by an intruder inside the Delhi Secretariat.
“In the last two years, four attacks have happened on me. We have become an eye sore for them (opponents). They are trying to kill me. People are asking questions from these parties, about the work done by our government … schools, hospitals, water and electricity…That why can’t they do the same,” the Delhi CM claimed.
Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party claimed that top leadership of the BJP knew about the “pre-planned” attack. Tuesday’s incident, which raised questions about the safety of the chief minister, refused to die down as senior AAP leaders squarely blamed their BJP rivals for the attack and held a protest at the saffron party’s headquarters.
Scores of AAP volunteers and workers protested outside the BJP headquarters at Deendayal Updhyay Marg, where a heavy police presence stopped them a few meters away from the gate of the saffron party’s office. The AAP workers raised slogans against the BJP and the Delhi Police. “The BJP is losing all seven seats in Delhi. Therefore, they (BJP leaders) are resorting to this politics of intimidation. But, let me tell them that it is not going to work, as we are not scared,” asserted AAP leader Dilip Pandey.
“I have requested the Delhi Police to show some self–respect and stop acting like a ‘Gunda wing’ of the BJP. In the past cases, when the chief minister came under attack, no charge sheet was filed…. To the BJP, we make it clear that our party is not a ‘gunda gang’,” said Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and number two in party, Manish Sisodia.
The party also alleged Anil Kumar Sharma, who attacked the CM is a neighbour of former BJP MLA Karan Singh Tanwar, who was nominated by the BJP for the vice-chairman post of the New Delhi Municipal Council.
On Tuesday, the attacker is reported to have pretended as falling at Kejriwal’s feet, before taking everyone by surprise when he lunged to smear chilli powder on the face of the AAP chief. Later, the ruling party’s leaders claimed that the Delhi chief minister had a narrow escape as he was wearing glasses at the time of
the attack.
Attacker sent to 14-day judicial custody
Meanwhile, a court sent Anil Kumar Sharma Sharma to 14-day judicial custody. The Naraina resident on Tuesday had targeted Kejriwal when the latter stepped out of his chamber inside the Delhi Secretariat.