Bharatiya Janata Party leader Virendra Sachdeva on Wednesday alleged that efforts were being made to “whitewash” the assault on Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, ANI reported.

Sachdeva, the Delhi BJP chief, questioned the Aam Aadmi Party’s delay in taking note of the incident.

On Monday, Maliwal had accused Bibhav Kumar, the personal assistant of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, of assaulting her, and had gone to the police station. However, the police did not receive a formal complaint from her.

A day later, the Aam Aadmi Party said that it would take strict action against Kumar for allegedly misbehaving with Maliwal. Party leader Sanjay Singh said that Kejriwal had acknowledged the incident.

On Wednesday, Sachdeva said in an interview to ANI that it took 36 hours for Singh to say that the Aam Aadmi Party had taken cognisance of the matter. “This shows how insensitive the AAP [Aam Aadmi Party] is,” he said.

Sachdeva claimed that Maliwal was being silenced due to political pressure. He also contended that Kumar could not have done the act himself. “Who instigated him, who gave directions?” he asked. “All these things should be investigated.”

Questioning Maliwal’s alleged silence about the incident, Sachdeva said that it indicated the amount of pressure on her.