While they condemned the ink attack on Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and asserted that such “undemocratic ways of protest” had no place in a democracy, the Delhi BJP and the Congress also held the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government “responsible” for the incident.
Both parties attributed the attack to the “negligence” and “insensitivity” exhibited by the AAP government towards the problems of the people following the outbreak of dengue and chikungunya.
Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay said the BJP believed that throwing ink and shoes or slapping those in power “have no place in democracy”. “The BJP condemns the incident. But unfortunately it was Kejriwal’s party that gave political approval when it made Jarnail Singh an MLA (who hurled a shoe at P. Chidambaram), and now it is facing the same,” Mr. Upadhyay said.
The BJP leader also pointed to the “coincidence” of attacks on AAP leaders at a time when the party was “facing flak from the public and the Opposition”.
“Why do such incidents happen to AAP leaders whenever they are in the dock? At a time when Delhi wants to know from Mr. Sisodia the reasons behind his Finland trip and about Mr. Kejriwal-government’s negligence on dengue and chikungunya, this ink-throwing incident happens. It raises suspicion on the purpose behind it,” Mr. Upadhyay said.
Congress speaks
Meanwhile, Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken termed the ink attack on Mr. Sisodia “highly condemnable” and not good for “healthy democracy”.
“It is high time, AAP leaders should understand that they have been exposed before the people. Everybody knows that the CM, Deputy CM and Ministers are in search of lame excuses for not doing work. Development in Delhi has come to a stand still,” Mr. Maken said.
Yogendra Yadav-led Swaraj Abhiyan also issued a statement saying it disproved of the ink-throwing incident.
