Delhi Chief Minister Atishi criticised the withdrawal of Punjab Police security for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of "playing with the life" of the former chief minister.
CM of the Indian capital Atishi further targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party and questioned the Election Commission for being a "mute spectator" despite "repeated attacks" on the leader of a national party.
"Shameful. On the instructions of Amit Shah ji, @DelhiPolice today forcibly removed @ArvindKejriwal ji's Punjab Police security. And on the same day, Kejriwal ji was attacked by BJP goons in Hari Nagar. Does Modi-Shah want to play with Kejriwal's life? How long will the Election Commission remain a mute spectator? Why is there silence on the repeated attacks on a leader of a national party?" the Delhi CM posted on X on Thursday.
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Punjab Police withdraws its security for Kejriwal
This follows the Punjab Police's decision to withdraw its security for AAP leader Kejriwal. Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav explained on Thursday that the action was taken after receiving instructions from the Election Commission of India and the Delhi Police.
"We keep on receiving reports regarding threats to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal and we share them with the concerned agencies. After the instructions of the Election Commission of India and the Delhi Police, we have withdrawn the component of the Punjab Police deployed for the security of Arvind Kejriwal," said DGP Yadav.
Kejriwal claims opposition candidate’s camp attacked his convoy
Earlier on Thursday, Kejriwal also claimed that candidate's of the opposition camp disrupted his public meeting in Hari Nagar and attacked his car.
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"Today in Hari Nagar, the police allowed the opposition candidate's men to enter my public meeting and then attacked my car. All this is happening on Amit Shah's orders. Amit Shah has made the Delhi Police the personal army of the BJP," Kejriwal wrote on X.
"Big questions are being raised on the Election Commission that the national president of a national party and its leaders are being constantly attacked and the Election Commission is unable to take any effective action," he added in the post.
BJP leader Parvesh Verma dismisses Kejriwal’s allegations
Meanwhile, BJP leader Parvesh Verma dismissed Kejriwal's allegations of an attack on his car as a political drama. "@ArvindKejriwal soon we will bring a drama 'Hamla hua' (attack happened), then posters will be printed - 'Mujhe Kyon Mara?'. Elections are near, Bhai Saheb is writing the script," Verma posted on X.
The Delhi Assembly elections will take place in a single phase on February 5, and the counting of votes will be done on February 8. A total of 699 candidates are competing for the 70 assembly seats in Delhi.
(With inputs from agencies)