Will look into AAP-SFJ link charge, says Amit Shah

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday termed as “laughable” allegations by a former party leader and aide that he (Kejriwal) sought to play the separatist card in the 2017 elections in Punjab, saying he must be the “world’s sweetest terrorist” who builds schools and hospitals.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday assured Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi that he would “personally look into” allegations linking the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs For Justice (SFJ).

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said “I personally will ensure that the matter is looked into in detail”. (ANI)

The “banned organisation, is in constant touch with Aam Aadmi Party. The SFJ has given support to AAP in the elections to the State Assembly in 2017 and similarly in these elections too. The SFJ has exhorted the electorate to vote for the Aam Aadmi Party. This is a serious issue of compromising the security and integrity of the country...,” the letter said.

In support of his claim, Channi attached a letter in Punjabi by Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, the legal advisor of SFJ. “It has been mentioned in the letter that the SFJ has given its support to AAP in the elections to the State Assembly in 2017...” he added.

Responding to Channi, Shah said: “A political party maintaining a connection with a banned, anti-national and separatist organisation and seeking help in elections is a serious concern for national security. This kind of agenda is in accordance with the agenda of the country’s enemies. It is condemnable that these people are joining hands with separatists and working towards threatening Punjab as well as the nation’s security in the greed for power.”

“I personally will ensure that the matter is looked into in detail,” he added.

Channi’s letter adds to the controversy surrounding a claim by a former AAP leader that Kejriwal flirted with separatist elements ahead of the 2017 elections.

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday termed as “laughable” allegations by a former party leader and aide that he (Kejriwal) sought to play the separatist card in the 2017 elections in Punjab, saying he must be the “world’s sweetest terrorist” who builds schools and hospitals.

“Perhaps I am the world’s sweetest terrorist who builds schools, hospitals, builds roads, improves road and power infrastructure, and sends the elderly on pilgrimages. Such a terrorist would never have been born,” the Delhi chief minister told reporters in a lighter vein in Punjab’s Bathinda.

Kejriwal was reacting to accusations by former AAP leader and poet Kumar Vishwas that the former was hobnobbing with separatists in Punjab. In an interview with news agency ANI, Vishwas said that during the 2017 Punjab elections, he warned Kejriwal not to go with “fringe elements”, separatists and forces associated with the Khalistani movement. AAP was fancied in those elections but won just 20 of 117 assembly seats.

The AAP president has also been under attack from both the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who have questioned him over Vishwas’s allegation. On Thursday, Punjab chief minister Channi urged the Prime Minister to “order an impartial enquiry” into Vishwas’s allegations.

The Delhi chief minister alleged that leaders of the BJP and the Congress as well as their allies have joined hands to target him over Vishwas’s “laughable” accusations.

“(Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, (Congress leaders) Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, (Punjab chief minister) Charanjit Channi, (SAD chief) Sukhbir Badal, (Punjab Lok Congress chief) Amarinder Singh, (state Congress chief) Navjot Singh Sidhu, all are now levelling allegations that for the last 10 years, Kejriwal has been hatching a plan to break the country into two parts and wants to become the prime minister of one part,” Kejriwal said.

“If one goes by their claims, that means I am a big terrorist. If one goes by their logic, then what were their agencies doing, why did they not arrest me? Earlier Congress was ruling and now, for the last over seven years, the BJP is in power (at the Centre). Were all of them sleeping?” he asked

Kejriwal said he has learnt that “last evening, Channi received a call from the Centre saying that the matter (accusations of supporting separatists) should be investigated”. “One officer told me that over the next one or two days, an FIR will be registered against me by the National Investigation Agency. All such FIRs are welcome, but if the Centre deals with national security in this manner, then it is a matter of concern.”

The AAP leader also dubbed the allegations levelled by Vishwas and other leaders as “comic”. “This is laughable. Is this possible,” he asked.

The Congress, however, continued to mount its attack on the AAP president. “Kejriwal ji, just give us a direct answer. Is Kumar Vishwas saying the truth? Yes or no?” party leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

Polling in Punjab is scheduled for February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

(With PTI inputs)