Man throws water at Arvind Kejriwal, detained
The person is linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Aam Aadmi Party claimed.
A man allegedly threw water at Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi on Saturday evening, NDTV reported.
The person was detained by the police.
The incident took place during the former chief minister’s march in the national capital’s Sheikh Sarai area. Kejriwal and Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj were walking in a narrow lane and greeting people when the incident took place.
A video posted by news agency ANI on social media shows the person reaching out and throwing water at Kejriwal.
The motive behind the man’s action was not immediately clear.
“Despite proper police deployment for crowd control, at around 5.50 pm, Ashok Jha, a bus marshal from Khanpur Depot, attempted to throw water on Kejriwal while he was greeting followers,” The Indian Express quoted Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ankit Chauhan as saying. “The attempt was immediately foiled as police in close proximity apprehended Jha and detained him.”
The motives behind the action are being investigated, Chauhan said.
Initial reports said that “a liquid” had been thrown at Kejriwal when it was unclear that it was water.
Bharadwaj claimed on social media that the person who attacked Kejriwal is linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“BJP leaders carry out rallies in all states, they are never attacked...” the Greater Kailash MLA told ANI. “There are continuous attacks on Arvind Kejriwal... BJP attacked him in Nangloi. He was attacked in Chhatarpur... The law and order in Delhi have collapsed and the central government and the [Union] home minister are not doing anything...”
Kejriwal faced protests led by the BJP in Delhi’s Nangloi area on Wednesday and was forced to cancel visit midway, The New Indian Express reported.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi said on social media: “Today in broad daylight, a BJP worker attacked Arvind Kejriwal ji. The BJP is feeling very nervous about losing the Delhi elections for the third time.”
The people of Delhi will “take revenge for such cheap acts”, Atishi said. “Last time they [BJP] got eight seats, this time Delhi people will give zero seats to the BJP,” she added.
The Assembly elections in Delhi are expected to take place in February.
Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that Kejriwal had gone back to an “old trick” ahead of the polls.
“Arvind Kejriwal’s every political strategy has failed,” NDTV quoted Kapoor as saying. “Now he will return to using his old tricks, in which he is slapped and ink is thrown at him. A similar thing happened today. Arvind Kejriwal should tell himself what new game he started today.”
In 2016, a person had thrown ink at Kejriwal during an event in the national capital. Kejriwal was the chief minister at the time.