Shortly after the Aam Aadmi Party’s Gujarat chief, Gopal Italia, was detained in Delhi outside the office of the National Commission for Women amid massive protests by party members, Arvind Kejriwal posted tweets in his support. “After Gopal Italia was held, there is huge anger among the Patel community in the state,” the AAP chief wrote in Hindi.
In another post, he targeted the rival BJP: “Why is the entire BJP after Italia?” He was responding to a post by the Gujarat AAP chief.
“NCW chief is threatening to put me in jail. What can the Modi government give to the Patel community? The BJP hates the Patidar community. I am a descendant of Sardar Patel. I am not scared of your jails. Put me behind bars. They have called police too. They are threatening me,” Italia had tweeted in Hindi before his detention.
The BJP vs AAP standoff escalation comes as Italia has been accused of making objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was summoned by the women's panel in another unrelated matter.
However, huge protests broke out outside the NCW office as a large number of AAP members gathered. NCW chief Rekha Sharma tweeted a picture of the demonstration and wrote: "All the @AamAadmiParty hooligans are outside my office creating a ruckus."
Both the AAP and Italia have dismissed the allegations against him, saying that an old matter is being raked to trigger controversy.
{{/usCountry}}Both the AAP and Italia have dismissed the allegations against him, saying that an old matter is being raked to trigger controversy.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, AAP's Gujarat in charge, Raghav Chadha, also shared a tweet in his support. "He is a descendent of Sardar Patel. He is not afraid of your jails," he tweeted.