A day after two Aam Aadmi Party workers were assaulted in Varanasi allegedly by BJP workers, party convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday accused the BJP of trying to create an atmosphere of terror in the constituency, where he is pitted against Narendra Modi, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.
Mr. Kejriwal also lashed out at the Congress and BJP for having a tacit deal over the Robert Vadra land issue and the ‘Snoopgate’ in Gujarat. Targeting the BJP on its allegations on the Vadra illegal land deal, Mr. Kejriwal who is campaigning in Varanasi, asked if the party was really serious on the issue then why hadn’t the BJP-led Rajasthan government filed an FIR against Mr. Vadra?
Mr. Kejriwal also questioned Congress’ silence on the Snoopgate and corporate giant Adani’s proximity to Mr. Modi. “If the Congress government is really serious on Adani issue, why doesn’t the CBI probe his role…It’s been four months since probe in the Snoopgate scandal was handed over to the CBI. If the CBI wanted, Mr. Modi would have been arrested. They (BJP and Congress) only comment against each other, but take no action,” the former Delhi CM told reporters.
Mr. Kejriwal hit out at Mr. Modi and Sonia Gandhi for not campaigning against each other in Varanasi (and Vadodara) and Rae Bareli respectively. Mr. Kejriwal also condemned the attack on his party volunteers alleging the BJP’s role in it even as he called for additional security forces to be deployed in two Assembly segments of Varanasi.
Ankit Lal, AAP national IT cell coordinator and Nandan Mishra, an IITian who quit his job to join the anti-corruption campaign, were attacked with sticks and rods while they were campaigning for Mr. Kejriwal on Monday night. While the attackers fled the scene, an FIR was registered at the Bhelupura police station. While Mr. Lal’s left ear drum was damaged, Mr. Mishra suffered from a broken nose.
Mr. Kejriwal alleged that the “BJP goons” were trying to scare away AAP workers. “BJP is creating an atmosphere of terror in Varanasi. They know Mr. Modi will lose the elections from Varanasi so it’s their desperation that makes them resort to physical attacks,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
“If this is the situation before elections, then what will happen after the elections if Mr. Modi happens to win from here,” he said.
