Aam Aadmi Party leader Prashant Bhushan, who is facing heat for his remarks on Kashmir, on Wednesday blamed the BJP and RSS-affiliated organisations for the attack on his party’s headquarters, saying they were “tremendously frustrated with the rise of AAP”.
“They are afraid of AAP and fear that it will damage their prospect in the Lok Sabha elections," he told reporters.
The top AAP leader claimed that one of the men involved in Wednesday’s attack was also behind an assault on him in his Supreme Court chambers on October 12, 2011.
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“Tejinder Singh Bagga, who had attacked me in my chamber, is now an active campaigner for the BJP. His website has the support of the BJP and Sangh Pariwar,” he said.
“A complaint will of course be filed regarding the attack on the AAP office. A complaint was filed for the attack on me, but unfortunately the Delhi Police has not taken any action and the culprits are walking scot-free,” Bhushan added.
Activists of a right-wing group vandalised the Aam Aadmi Party headquarters in Kaushambi in UP's Ghaziabad district to protest Bhushan's remarks on referendum in Kashmir.
{{/usCountry}}Activists of a right-wing group vandalised the Aam Aadmi Party headquarters in Kaushambi in UP's Ghaziabad district to protest Bhushan's remarks on referendum in Kashmir.
{{/usCountry}}This incident, Bhushan said, proves that those parties are ready to use any means, “even going to the extent of vandalism and physically assaulting AAP leaders and supporters”.
“This shows their fascist mentality and lumpen behaviour. It is unfortunate to see that a national party like BJP is now resorting to all kinds of violence and unleashing its goons,” he added.
Bhushan had recently said a referendum should be carried out in Kashmir to decide on deployment of the army to deal with security threats in the Valley. However, the Aam Aadmi Party had distanced itself from his views.
On AAP distancing itself from his views on Kashmir, Bhushan said, “There can be a difference of opinion within a party. I have already clarified and explained what I meant and there is not much difference in the party's statement. Neither I nor the party has said that Kashmir should be separated from India after conducting a referendum.”
Reacting over the AAP headquarters attack, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman said, “We condemn the attack on the AAP office because we can never support the taking of law into one's own hand.” She, however, reiterated that the BJP condemned Bhushan’s Kashmir statement.
Congress leader Kamal Nath said, “I condemn all politics of violence.”
(With inputs from agencies)