Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to assassinate him for building a political narrative around schools and hospitals.

The BJP refuted the allegation, saying Kejriwal was resorting to “such tactics” to gain sympathy as it was going to be defeated in the Lok Sabha elections.

In a tweet in Hindi, Kejriwal said, “Why does the BJP want to get me killed? What is my fault? I am only building schools and hospitals for the people of the country. For the first time in the country, a positive politics on schools and hospitals has begun. The BJP wants to end this. But, till my last breath I will keep working for the country.”

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal told a news channel in Punjab that he would be assassinated like former prime minister Indira Gandhi by his personal security officer. “The BJP would get me murdered by my own PSO (personal security officer) one day like Indira Gandhi. My own security officers report to the BJP. The BJP is after my life, they will murder me one day,” Kejriwal told a news channel in Punjab, which was reported by news agency PTI.

Responding to the allegation, Delhi Police said the Delhi chief minister’s security team was well committed to their duties. “The security unit of Delhi Police is a professional set-up of well-trained personnel who are thoroughly committed to their job and perform their duties with a high level of dedication. The unit has been providing security cover commendably for several high dignitaries of all political parties,” said Anil Mittal, additional PRO, Delhi Police.

The BJP, on the other hand, countered Kejriwal’s claim by alleging the CM himself had got his security removed from his vehicle on May 4 — the day he was slapped by a man during a roadshow in Delhi’s Moti Nagar.

“Before May 4, Kejriwal had told his liaison officer to remove security from his vehicle. His instruction is entered in the roznamcha, which is the daily diary maintained by the CM’s security team. After failing to get any political advantage out of this incident in the ongoing elections, a frustrated Kejriwal is
now levelling such false allegations,” said BJP’s leader of opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta.

Deputy CM Manish Sisodia later lashed out at Gupta, saying his comment proved the BJP took daily accounts of Kejriwal’s security. “BJP wants to kill the (Delhi) CM. Gupta has proved with his statement that the daily report of CM’s security is reaching the BJP based on which the BJP is conspiring an assassination plot against Kejriwal. Vijender Gupta too is involved in this conspiracy,” he said.

Gupta said that if the CM had no faith in his PSO and doubted his integrity, then he should have reported the matter to the police immediately and his PSO should have been removed.

“But he has made no complaint to the police yet which implies he wants to distract the attention of the people from his failures,” he said.

First Published: May 19, 2019 05:13 IST