Arvind Kejriwal after AAP claims ‘plot to kill’: ‘Can lay down life for country’
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday gave his first reactions a day after the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital alleged threat to his life and said that his house was attacked by the BJP-backed protesters amid demonstrations over his remarks against the movie- ‘The Kashmir Files’.
“If the biggest party of the country, which is in power at the centre, resorts to such hooliganism, it will spread a bad message among people. People will think that this is the right way (to deal with anything). The country can’t progress like this,” Kejriwal said at an event.
“Arvind Kejriwal is not important but the nation is. I can lay down my life for the country,” he added.
On Wednesday, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had alleged a plot to kill Kejriwal as massive protests broke out in front of the chief minister’s house. “As it could not defeat Arvind Kejriwal in the Punjab polls, the BJP now wants to kill him (hatya karna chahta hai). Today’s attack on the chief minister’s house shows that the BJP, with the help of police, wants to kill Kejriwal. We will lodge a formal complaint against this,” he had told reporters.
On Twitter, the AAP released a 35-second clip, calling it the “raw CCTV footage.” The clip shows around two dozen protesting men walking up to the gates and knocking down a security barrier. “BJP goons had broken CCTV cameras and security barriers in the presence of Delhi police,” the party said.
The Delhi police in a statement had said around 70 people were detained. According to the police, the protest was over Kejriwal’s remarks on ‘The Kashmir Files’ film. “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,” a police statement said.
Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, national secretary of the BJP’s youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, said the BJP workers held an agitation but did not resort to vandalism. “We were stopped by 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,” he told news agency PTI.
On Thursday, AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj moved the Delhi high court for a high-level probe in the incident. He has sought a special investigation team to conduct an independent probe in his petition. Levelling serious allegations against the Delhi Police, Bhardwaj said, “the attack appears to have been carried out with Delhi Police’s tacit complicity.”