Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday accused BJP workers of blackening posters advertising a ceremony to award ex gratia to the kin of a slain fireman, and said they don't respect martyrs, a charge denied by the opposition party.
"The goons of Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday, December 4 blackened the official posters of Shaheed Samman event in Burari. The Chief Minister, Sh. Arvind Kejriwal had gone to Burari to hand over a cheque of Rs. 1 crore to the family of martyr fireman late Sh. Vijendar Pal Singh," the statement said.
"This is highly condemnable that the BJP disrespected someone who gave supreme sacrifice in the line of duty," it said.
In a tweet in Hindi, the Chief Minister, "The BJP blackened the posters of the programme (Shaheed Samman). I appeal to the people of BJP that they have a fight with me and they should at least not disrespect our martyrs."
The Delhi BJP rubbished the charge as "petty politics" by the AAP and accused Kejriwal of playing politics in the name of honouring martyrs.
"Blackening posters, putting up unnamed fake posters to insult others are the contributions to Delhi politics by the AAP. Delhi BJP keeps off petty politics. You (Kejriwal) explore opportunities of politics in martyrs honour, not we," Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said in a tweet.
The Delhi government statement also said it is clear from the incident that the BJP doesn't care about anything except their political interest. This shows their level of respect for the martyrs and those who give their life for the motherland, it added.
Speaking at Burari, Kejriwal said the AAP government passed the policy for granting ex gratia of Rs 1 crore to martyrs but the BJP government at the Centre had blocked it.
"We were able to pass the policy again after we got back some powers from the Supreme Court recently. The powers which we got back enabled us to come here today and respect our martyr fireman," he said.
Fireman Vijender Pal Singh worked with the Delhi Fire Service and died during a fire fighting operation in May 2017.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)