Expressing anguish over the entire episode of Arvind Kejriwal being slapped in public, the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi – Manish Sisodia has accused Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi of conspiring against AAP.
The Delhi CM was holding a roadshow in Moti Nagar area in Delhi when a 33-year old man, dressed in a red T-Shirt, climbed on to the bonnet of an open-air Maruti Gypsy and slapped him. He was immediately caught by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters and beaten up before being handed over to the police.
Identified as Suresh Chauhan, the assailant is a scrap dealer. An FIR under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) has been lodged against Suresh.
Reacting to the situation, Manish Sisodia tweeted, “The attacker’s wife is saying that her husband is a Modi-bhakt, police claims he was an AAP leader. It is possible that after the interrogation of BJP (Delhi) Police, this man could deny that this woman is not his wife.”
Accusing Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) of stooping to lower standards, he said, “Do [Narendra] Modi and Amit Shah want Kejriwal to be murdered. Now you want him removed from your way like this. You cowards.”
A Delhi Police Spokesperson has said that Suresh was an AAP supporter who used to organise the party’s rallies and meetings. However, both Manish Sisodia and Suresh’s family have denied Suresh having any links with any political party.
Delhi Police said that Suresh revealed during interrogations that he got dissatisfied with AAP “due to the behaviour of its leaders, and distrust of the party in the armed forces”.
AAP has also accused BJP of intentionally not providing adequate security to Delhi CM. They even said that Delhi Police is supporting Modi by not giving proper protection to Kejriwal. AAP has for long been demanding that Delhi Police which comes under the Union Home Ministry, should be given to Delhi Government.
Both Congress and BJP have expressed doubts over the entire issue and have said that it is a game plan of Kejriwal for gaining public sympathy.
Delhi Congress Spokesperson – Jitender Kochar said, “The incident is as an old move of Kejriwal to stage-manage attacks on him and then seek public sympathy. But people of Delhi will not succumb to this political manoeuvre by him.”
Delhi BJP President – Manoj Tiwari said, “But I have doubts as to why such incidents happen with Kejriwal in election time only. I doubt this incident may have been scripted by Kejriwal himself.”
For the records, this is not the first time when Kejriwal has been assaulted. In November 2018, a man smeared chilli powder on Kejriwal’s face, inside Delhi Secretariat. In February 2016, people attacked Kejriwal’s car with iron rods and sticks in Ludhiana. A month before that, a member of the Aam Aadmi Army – Arjun Arora, had thrown ink at Kejriwal.
