
NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of orchestrating an attack on former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during his campaign in the New Delhi constituency.
Denying the charges, the BJP accused Kejriwal of running over two people and claimed that some party workers were attacked by AAP volunteers.
Posting a video of the incident on social media, the AAP accused BJP supporters, allegedly linked to the party's candidate Pravesh Verma, of throwing bricks and stones at Kejriwal’s convoy to disrupt his campaign and intimidate him ahead of the elections.
Delhi's ruling party condemned the attack, calling it "a cowardly act by the BJP in fear of an impending defeat."
“Fearing defeat, BJP panicked, got its goons to attack Arvind Kejriwal. BJP candidate Pravesh Verma's goons attacked Arvind Kejriwal with bricks and stones while he was campaigning and tried to hurt him so that he could not campaign. BJP people, Kejriwal ji is not going to be scared of your cowardly attack, the people of Delhi will give you a befitting reply,” the AAP wrote in Hindi and posted a video clip of the incident on X.
Verma is the BJP's candidate for the New Delhi constituency and will face Kejriwal and Sandeep Dikshit of the Congress.
However, he dismissed AAP's allegations and countered by accusing Kejriwal of running over two people with his vehicle during the campaign.
"When the people were asking questions, Arvind Kejriwal hit two youngsters with his car. Both were taken to Lady Harding Hospital. Seeing defeat in front, he forgot the value of people's lives. I am going to the hospital," Verma responded on X and shared a video of the incident.
The video footage showed people waving black flags at the convoy.
"When AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal was campaigning door-to-door near Lal Bahadur Sadan, people of New Delhi Assembly constituency were asking questions to AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal about employment etc," Verma told reporters.
"When three residents named Vishal, Abhishek and Rohit who are unemployed tried to ask questions to Kejriwal, Punjab Police beat them up and a worker's phone was broken," he added.
The former BJP MP further alleged that Kejriwal "signalled" his driver to "crush" the three youths and added that he, as well as the three victims will file an 'attempt to murder' case against Kejriwal.
AAP claimed it was part of a coordinated effort to sabotage Kejriwal’s campaign event.
As the day unfolded, the political leaders from both the parties exchanged accusations of playing dirty in the lead-up to crucial elections.
Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva claimed that Kejriwal was "making up imaginary stories" and added that it was "a drama to garner sympathy."
"As the polling date is coming closer, Arvind Kejriwal is making up imaginary stories of attacks on him...Arvind Kejriwal does not answer the questions raised by us, the media and the people of his area. He was running away after running his car over BJP workers and is claiming that he was attacked...it was a drama to garner sympathy," Sachdeva said.
BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj accused Kejriwal of avoiding accountability and failing to fulfill his promises. She questioned the credibility of his claims of feeling threatened by three youths, given his constant security provided by the Punjab Police.
"All three youths are undergoing treatment. I saw them sitting in a wheelchair. But today the cruelty and ruthlessness with which he signaled to drive his car is a sign of the dirty politics he plays. It also shows that he is afraid of his defeat," Swaraj said.
In retaliation, AAP MP Sanjay Singh alleged that BJP wanted to win the elections through hooliganism.
"They are attacking Arvind Kejriwal with stones. Parvesh Verma's people attacked him with stones. You want to win the elections by hooliganism. The workers of Aam Aadmi Party, the leaders of Aam Aadmi Party, have never bowed down before you. Why do they do such cowardly acts, what will they achieve by this? BJP is a party of cowards," Singh said.
Congress candidate from the New Delhi Assembly, Sandeep Dikshit, also condemned the incident but criticised both AAP and BJP for not addressing core public concerns.
"I am not aware of what exactly has happened, but I can't understand why this kind of politics is happening in Delhi. I am against of all such kinds of violence. I hope those who have been injured in this incident get well soon." Dikshit said.
Delhi will go to the polls on February 5 and the counting of votes will take place on February 8. A three-way contest is on the cards in Delhi between the ruling AAP, BJP and Congress.
AAP dominated the 2020 assembly elections by winning 62 out of 70 seats while the BJP got eight seats. Congress, which was in power for 15 consecutive years in Delhi, has suffered setbacks in the last two assembly elections and has failed to win any seat.