Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday hit out at the BJP after activists of its youth wing BJYM allegedly attacked and damaged CCTV cameras as well as security barriers at the chief minister’s residence during a protest, alleging that the saffron party wants to “kill” Arvind Kejriwal.
“Due to the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) victory and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) defeat in the Punjab assembly elections, the BJP wants to murder Arvind Kejriwal. BJP goons were deliberately taken by the police to the residence of Kejriwal. They broke the CCTV cameras and barriers in front of the CM’s residence,” Sisodia said at a press conference.
“Just because the BJP cannot defeat Kejriwal, it is trying to kill him. Today’s incident was a pre-orchestrated plan of the BJP to murder him, Sisodia added.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader also said they will lodge a formal complaint in this connection.
The activists of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), led by its president Tejasvi Surya, staged a protest near Kejriwal’s residence at Civil Lines in the national capital, demanding an apology from him for allegedly mocking Kashmiri Pandits, with the AAP alleging vandalism during the demonstration.
The footage from a CCTV camera installed at the Delhi CM residence shows the protesters dismantling barricades as they huddled outside the house.
BJYM national secretary Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, however, claimed that the workers and leaders of the organisation staged a protest near Kejriwal’s residence but did not resort to vandalism.
“We were stopped by the police and around 20-25 of our members and leaders, including Tejasvi Surya, were detained and taken to a police station. They were later released,” news agency PTI quoted Bagga as saying.
In a statement, the Delhi Police said, “Around 1 pm some protestors breached two barricades and reached the chief minister’s house where they created ruckus, shouted slogans… They were carrying a small box of paint from which they threw paint at the door… a boom barrier arm was also found vandalised and a CCTV camera.”
The police said they acted ‘immediately’ to remove the protesters and had detained around 70 people. Legal action is being initiated, Sagar Singh Kalsi, DCP (Delhi North), said.
Last week, Kejriwal hit out at the BJP over their demand to make the recently released movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ tax-free.
“Ask Vivek Agnihotri to put the film on YouTube. Everyone can watch it for free. What’s the need to make the movie tax free,” Kejriwal had said during the budget session of the Delhi assembly.
His remarks have drawn sharp reactions from BJP leaders.
This article first appeared on hindustantimes.com