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Bawana fire: BJP leader claims video of her telling aides not to speak against Delhi civic body ‘fake’, blames AAP
Preeti Aggarwal of BJP was caught on video telling her aides not to speak about the factory in Bawana where 17 labourers died in a fire, because its license was with the North Delhi municipal corporation.
North Delhi municipal corporation mayor Preeti Aggarwal, of BJP, was purportedly caught on video cautioning her aides not to speak about the building in Bawana where 17 labourers died in a fire, because its license was with the civic body.
The video was shared widely on internet, with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, too, sharing it.
On Saturday evening, a fire broke out at a three-storey building in Bawana industrial area, leading to the death of 17 workers. Police have identified five bodies and have arrested owner Manoj Jain in connection with case.
Aggarwal had visited the spot to take stock of the incident.
A video tweeted by news agency ANI allegedly showed Aggarwal telling her aides, “Is factory ki license hamare paas hai. Isliye kuch ni bolna (license of this factory is with us. So we should not speak against it).”
The mayor, however, denied the allegation and termed the video “fake”. She denied giving such statements and demanded an apology from Kejriwal for sharing a fake video and politicising the incident.
“The Aam Aadmi Party is behind this fake video. They should be ashamed of politicising the deaths. We have ordered an inquiry, the details of which will come out within a few hours,” she said.
“Bawana fire incident is a sensitive issue. Arvind Kejriwal is tweeting and retweeting a fake video of mine and is confusing the public. This shows your (Kejriwal) poor politics. You should apologise,” the mayor said in a tweet on Sunday.
Read | Bawana fire: Building that stored crackers had only one exit, two fire extinguishers
Several political leaders, including chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union ministers Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Goel and Delhi’s urban development minister Satyendar Jain visited the spot.
Kejriwal announced Rs five lakh compensation to kin of the deceased and Rs one lakh to those injured.
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said the BJP was being targeted for the incident.
“Preeti Aggarwal asked whom does the factory come under. It’s murmuring. Only ‘ye factory’ is clear. People are trying to make that fake video viral at a sad time, just to blame BJP. CM re-tweeted it. He must apologise for such low-level politics in time of despair,” the BJP Delhi unit president told ANI.
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