A day after being slapped during a roadshow, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, here on Sunday, blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the attack saying the party was trying to silence voices raised against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and establish dictatorship.
Addressing the media, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief said: "Yesterday (Saturday) a man attacked me. This was the ninth attack on me in the last five years and fifth since I became the Chief Minister. I don't think any Chief Minister was attacked so many times."
He said Delhi was the only place in the country where security for the Chief Minister was in the hands of an opposition party. "My security is the BJP's responsibility. In all other states, the Chief Minister's security is the responsibility of the state police, which comes under the CM."
Claiming that nine attacks cannot be called security lapse, he said, "It was a conspiracy against me."
Attacking the BJP, he said the party had tried its best to destroy the AAP. "They made the CBI raid my office. The Delhi Police raided my house. A total of 33 cases have been filed against me. They want to remove us physically. The attack was not on me, it was on Delhi. They attacked the Chief Minister elected by the people of Delhi."
Kejriwal said the BJP was not able to digest the fact that the AAP won 67 of the 70 seats in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections. "We have done so much for Delhi in the fields of education, health, electricity and water. They (BJP) fear the people will question them on what work they have done."
Through the attack, the BJP was trying to send out a message that those opposing Modi would not be spared, "even if he is a CM," he said and added the attacker's wife said he could not listen to anything against Modi".
"There is a message being given that no one should speak up against Modi. They are trying to choke my voice and this is a clear trait of a dictator," the AAP leader said.
Kejriwal said he was not scared of attacks and it (attacks) had made him stronger and added, "It will not kill my voice or my spirit."
"I have been asking why Pakistan wanted Modi to be re-elected. I will again raise this point. Modi says he destroyed terror camps and terrorists want him to be re-elected. We killed 300 Pakistani and (Pakistan Prime Minister) Imran Khan is saying re-elect Modi. The country wants to know the connection between Modi and Pakistan," the AAP chief said.
Kejriwal also accused Modi of insulting the nation and the army. "He (Modi) said no surgical strike happened before he came to power. Is he saying the army didn't do any work before that. This is an insult to the army and the nation."
Kerjiwal urged all "Modi bhakts" to first think about the nation and refrain from making an individual greater than the nation.
Kejriwal was attacked in the Moti Nagar area of Delhi on Saturday by a Suresh.
--IANS
nks/pg/pcj
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
