Poll panel reprimands AAP for violence at BJP headquarters

The Election Commission will ask the Delhi election office to reprimand Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for staging a violent protest at the BJP office last Wednesday.

The Election Commission will ask the Delhi election office to reprimand Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for staging a violent protest at the BJP office last Wednesday.

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The EC, after examining the report submitted by Capital’s chief electoral officer Vijay Dev, was of the view that the party-led by Arvind Kejriwal should be reprimanded and warned.

It said that strict action would be taken against AAP if there was a repeat of the violence.

The election commission has taken a lenient view, considering that Aam Aadmi Party was new to the national election arena and did not have a past record.

It was their first such offence, an EC official said, adding that stringent action like de-recoginising the party cannot be taken against them.

The AAP was accused of starting the violence at BJP headquarters last Wednesday after its leader Arvind Kejriwal was detained in Gujarat for holding a public meeting without taking prior permission from the administration.

The AAP cadre in Delhi went to BJP headquarters even though no protest in New Delhi area is allowed without taking permission from the police.

The Delhi Police later in a report blamed the AAP for starting the violence in which supporters of both the parties were injured.