Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday alleged that the BJP was responsible for the attack on him during a roadshow and claimed he was targeted because he had questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "relationship" with Pakistan.
Addressing the media at the party headquarters, Kejriwal termed the attack on him as an assault on the people of Delhi and the mandate they had given to the party. "The incident happened to silence voices raised against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and establish dictatorship," he said, adding that this is the ninth attack on me and fifth one since I took charge as the Chief Minister of Delhi. Holding both the BJP and PM Modi responsible for this attack, he said they (BJP) do not want common man to enter politics. So, we are being targeted. "Our only fault is that we have tried to develop national Capital by improving various sectors such as education, health. They fear that people in other States will start questioning them on real issue," he said.
Hitting out at the BJP, he said that Delhi was the only place in the country where security for the Chief Minister was in the hands of an opposition party. "In all the states across India, the security of a Chief Minister is the responsibility of the state police which comes under the respective CMs but my security is BJP's responsibility," he added.
The BJP will be held responsible for any attack on me in future, he said, adding that the BJP is trying everything to destroy the AAP. "They made the CBI raid my office. The Delhi police raided my house. A total of 33 cases have been filed against me," he said.
Kejriwal said that the BJP was not able to digest the fact that the AAP won 67 out of 70 seats in the 2015 Assembly elections in Delhi.
Kejriwal was slapped allegedly by a disgruntled AAP supporter during a roadshow in Moti Nagar on Saturday.
The response from the police after the incident was scripted. The police are not responsible for this, they were merely following the 'script' given by the ruling party," he alleged. "The people of Delhi will take revenge for this act," Kejriwal said. He also dismissed the charge that the attacker was an AAP supporter as claimed by the police.
AAP spokesperson and senior leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said "We have investigated from our end, and he is not from our party, as claimed by the police."
"It was cognisable offence, and this is a person holding a constitutional post of CM. Will police take action against the accused when he files a complaint," said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Kejriwal hitting out at the Centre alleged that "signs of a dictator" can be seen in such circumstances, "but we will not be cowed down by it, and out voices shall not be silenced". "I also wondered what have I said in the last few days that may have angered some people. And I realised in various interviews to media, I have questioned the link between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan. In last 70 years or so, no premier of the neighbouring country has said that a particular candidate should win and become the PM again. What is going on," he said.
Delhi Police said Saturday that preliminary interrogation has revealed that 33-year-old Suresh, a scrap dealer in the area, was a supporter of AAP and he used to work as organiser of its rallies and meetings.
However, the BJP has turned down the charges and termed it as propaganda. Reacting to the allegation, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, said that Kejriwal was "doing drama" to boost his election campaign. Gupta said that he is trying to give the incident a political angle to gain sympathy even though the attacker was a disgruntled AAP worker.
