Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday accused the BJP of carrying out attacks against his party colleagues and decided to seek the intervention of the Election Commission.
Hours before BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi filed his nomination from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, Mr. Kejriwal addressed the media and announced that he would sit in protest at the Assi Ghat here to register his disapproval at the violent attacks.
Late on Wednesday night, Somnath Bharti of the AAP was attacked near Assi Ghat, allegedly by the BJP supporters. Mr. Bharti was participating in a TV show when the attack took place.
The AAP leader, who takes on Mr. Modi in Varaansi, targeted the BJP and the Samajwadi Party-led state government and said there seemed to be an understanding between the two in Varanasi. He said there was delay on the part of the police and administration in taking action against the miscreants who beat up Mr. Bharti, smashed his car and attacked his driver. Mr. Kejriwal also alleged that the police asked Mr. Bharti to furnish proof of being attacked.
The AAP will ask the EC to take steps to ensure that the election in Varanasi was free and fair.
Training his guns on Mr. Modi, whom he addressed as “raja” (king), Mr. Kejriwal said: “Is this the Gujarat model… those opposing Mr. Modi will either be threatened or attacked?”
He also criticised his colleague Shazia Illmi's comments asking Muslims to be “communal.”
“As per the Election Commission, the word communal is defined as somebody trying to instigate hatred among two communities,” Mr. Kejriwal said. “If there was any indication of Ms. Shazia doing that, she would have been ousted from the party. Her use of words was not proper. We condemn that.”
