A day after a man attacked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as he walked out of his office in the Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday afternoon, Deputy Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia said the leadership of the BJP had planned the incident.
The man, on the pretence of conveying a grievance, lunged at the Chief Minister, broke his glasses and attempted to smear red chilli powder on his face.
The attacker, identified as Anil Kumar Sharma, was arrested by police.
At a press conference at the AAP office in New Delhi, Mr. Sisodia said the police initially tried to say that red chilli powder had fallen accidentally during the commotion. But, CCTV footage showed the attack, he added.
“Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called the Chief Minister and asked him to give a police complaint. I find it surprising that the incident happened in the presence of the police and they expected the Chief Minister to give a complaint,” he said.
FIR lodged
After many hours, the Delhi Police took suo motu cognisance and lodged an FIR late on Tuesday night.
Citing posts targeting the AAP and Mr. Kejriwal, Mr. Sisodia said the accused’s Facebook profile showed that he was linked with the BJP as he identified himself as working with the BJP.
“The attacker is a BJP worker...The top leadership of the BJP was behind the incident. The BJP is conspiring to have Arvind Kejriwal murdered,” Mr. Sisodia alleged.
He pointed out that this was the fourth attack on the Chief Minister, who has faced shoes and ink being hurled at him at public events.
“The police have failed to file charge sheets in any of the cases. On the other hand, if there is any allegation against any AAP MLA or Minister, they are quick to investigate and file charge sheets,” he said.
Mr. Sisodia said the BJP-led Central government had tried to stop the AAP government from working, by issuing orders and using investigations, but had not been able to prevent work.
“Now, they are trying to stop us by having Arvind Kejriwal murdered,” he alleged.
While Mr. Sisodia declined to say what the AAP would do, sources said the party was seeking legal opinion on the matter, including the pending charge sheets in the previous attacks on Mr. Kejriwal.
