Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged on Saturday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to finish off democracy and was taking the country towards dictatorship. He also alleged that the BJP wants to send all AAP leaders to jail because it wants to eliminate his party. The Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi is currently embroiled in an ongoing controversy where AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal has accused CM's PA Bibhav Kumar of beating her up on Monday when she visited Chief Minister's residence. The Opposition had criticised Arvind Kejriwal over his silence on the matter.
"You can see how they are after AAP... I would like to tell the Prime Minister - you are playing this 'jail ka khel'... Tomorrow, I am coming to the BJP headquarters with all my top leaders, MLAs, MPs at 12 noon. You can put in jail whoever you want..," Arvind Kejriwal said in a video address today.
The Delhi Chief Minister further added, "The PM is playing game of 'jail'. I, along with all my top leaders, including MLAs and MPs, will come to the BJP headquarters at 12 pm tomorrow. You can put all of us in jail. Do you think you would be able to crush the AAP after sending everyone to jail? That's not possible as the AAP is an idea," said Delhi CM and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
Reacting on Kejriwal's statement, Delhi BJP chief Virendraa Sachdeva said, "Stop doing this drama. We are asking you just one thing - you did not break your silence even 6 days after your woman MP was beaten up at your residence...Tell us who is responsible for the misbehaviour with the woman MP. Why have you not broken your silence over it?"
Kejriwal's video address comes amid row over Swati Maliwal's alleged assault case
Arvind Kejriwal's video address on Saturday came at a time when the party finds itself at the centre of a controversy over Swati Maliwal's alleged assault case inside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister.
According to the FIR registered by the Delhi Police, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal alleged that she was "kicked and slapped seven to eight times" allegedly by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar at CM's residence, and "did not relent" despite her asking him to stop.
In the FIR regarding the alleged assault on her, Maliwal also claimed that Kumar hit her with "full force again and again" but no one came to her rescue. She also alleged that despite telling Kumar that she was menstruating and in pain, he did not budge.
The FIR quotes Maliwal as saying that this "is one of the most difficult times of my life" and "the pain, trauma and harassment has been mind-numbing".
"... I am also having difficulty in walking," she said in the FIR.
Maliwal, who earlier served as the chief of Delhi Commission For Women, said her situation is "exacerbated by the fact that having worked all my life for women issues and having helped lakhs of women get justice", she "ended up being brutally beaten by a person whom I know for long".
"I am deeply disturbed by this incident and am distraught that someone could display such 'goonda' behaviour," read the FIR. She has called for the strongest possible action in the matter.
The details of the alleged assault on Maliwal, which took place at Kejriwal's official residence on Monday, emerged on Friday as the Rajya Sabha MP appeared before a magistrate at the Tis Hazari court to record her statement in the case.
The Delhi Police on Thursday registered an FIR in the matter and named Bibhav Kumar as an accused in the case, officials said.
With inputs from PTI
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