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‘Shameful’ vs ‘readying script’: AAP, BJP in war of words over Punjab Police's security for Arvind Kejriwal
Punjab Police withdrawing a component of Arvind Kejriwal's security following objections by their Delhi counterparts, has triggered an AAP-BJP war of words.
A war of words has erupted between Delhi's ruling Aadmi Party and its main rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party, after Punjab Police withdrew a component of security deployed by it to guard AAP convenor and ex-Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The move by Punjab Police, which reports to the state's AAP government, came after their Delhi counterparts approached the Election Commission regarding Punjab cops guarding Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital.
The Kejriwal-led party faces an election in the Capital on February 5, with results to be declared on February 8. As Delhi doubles as a Union territory, its police force comes under the Union home ministry led by the BJP.
‘Shameful,’ says AAP
Delhi chief minister Atishi, who succeeded party head Kejriwal as CM in September 2024, blamed Union home minister Amit Shah, accusing him of ordering Delhi Police to get the former CM's security detail removed.
Atishi linked an alleged attack on Kejriwal, in Delhi's Hari Nagar on Thursday evening, to removal of his security, and claimed the BJP was behind the 'attack.'
“ Do (prime minister Narendra) Modi and Shah want to play with Kejriwal ji's life? Will the Election Commissioner remain a mute spectator?” she posted on X.
The AAP convenor, too, held Amit Shah responsible for the ‘attack.’
BJP's ‘script’ attack on Kejriwal
Hitting back, former Lok Sabha MP Parvesh Verma of the BJP said as the election is approaching, Arvind Kejriwal will soon come up with his ‘drama’ of being ‘attacked.’
Also Read: AAP claims Arvind Kejriwal's car attacked by ‘BJP goons’; Parvesh Verma hits back
“And then, he will get posters of ‘Why was I attacked?’ He is busy writing script,” Parvesh Verma wrote on social media.
Parvesh Verma, son of ex-Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma, has been fielded by the BJP to take on Kejriwal in the latter's New Delhi assembly constituency. Another former Lok Sabha member, Congress' Sandeep Dikshit, is also contesting the New Delhi seat. Dikshit's mother Sheila Dikshit was Kejriwal's predecessor as chief minister.
