New Delhi: Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday faced an attack in the Delhi secretariat after a man flung chilli powder while attempting to touch the chief minister’s feet. The AAP alleged that the attack was a “politically motivated” attempt.
The attack, which took place outside the chief minister’s office in the Delhi secretariat, has raised a security concern with senior leaders of the AAP alleging that the Delhi Police was colluding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to promote such incidents.
“There was an attack on the chief minister. It happened in a place that is institutionally very secure. The incident happened right outside the office of the chief minister. The question is how could this happen? Today he managed to bring in chilli powder, tomorrow it could be a gun or acid? This cannot happen without the involvement of the Delhi Police and the BJP. We request the BJP to not indulge in such politics,” deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said.
He added that there had been a series of attacks on the chief minister. In the past, Kejriwal has faced attacks where a shoe has been thrown at him in the media room of the secretariat and in another incident someone threw ink on the chief minister.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said that such incidents “cannot be tolerated or justified by anybody”. He called for a high-level probe.
According to the Press Trust of India, the man who has been identified as Anil Kumar has been detained and his Aadhaar card has been recovered. He brought the chilli powder to the secretariat in packets of chewing tobacco.