Kejriwal attacked with liquid during padyatra

New Delhi, Nov 30: Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was attacked with liquid by a man on Saturday while he was undertaking a padyatra in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar colony.

The attacker was identified as Ashok Jha.

As per news agency IANS, AAP supporters blamed BJP workers for the attack, a charge dismissed by the Delhi BJP which questioned why only Kejriwal gets targeted ahead of elections, despite enjoying a security cover.

The AAP said in a social media post claiming that even a former CM of Delhi is now not secure in the city.

AAP leader and MLA from Greater Kailash, Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed that the attacker attempted to burn Kejriwal alive. The liquid which he threw on Kejriwal was spirit and the attacker had a match stick in other hand. Luckily, the security personnel reacted swiftly due to which Arvind Kejriwal was saved from the attacker, he told journalists during a press conference.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal visited the Panchsheel Park colony in the same Greater Kailash constituency to meet the family of 64-year-old Rohit Kumar Alagh who was murdered on Monday.

After meeting the family, the AAP National Convenor said, “The family of the victim is in deep shock.”

Kejriwal said the murder in Panchsheel Park, which is considered one of the most posh colonies in the city, exposed that no one is safe in the city.

In Delhi, elderly people like Alagh are feeling insecure and businessmen are getting extortion calls, Kejriwal said, highlighting the allegedly deteriorating law and order situation in the Capital.

“There is panic in Delhi with the spurt in crime and I want to ask Union Home Minister Amit Shah to control crime. I hope things will improve in the near future,” he said.

The Delhi BJP condemned all forms of violent protests but described the incident of throwing water on Kejriwal as an “old wine in a new bottle”.

Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said elections are held across the country, and leaders participate in campaigns under varying levels of security. However, such bizarre incidents occur only with Arvind Kejriwal during every Assembly election.

“Delhiites are questioning why such events always happen with Arvind Kejriwal,” he said, pointing that the incident has proven correct Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva’s recent prediction that the AAP convenor would orchestrate a repeat of the “slap incident” of 2019 when a man had attacked him during a road show. (With IANS inputs)