
The Aam Aadmi Party Tuesday shared photos of Md Ansar, one of the main accused in the Jahangirpuri communal violence, purportedly campaigning for a BJP candidate during the 2017 municipal elections.
Ansar, who was arrested by the police on Sunday, a day after communal clashes broke out in Jahangirpuri during a Hanuman Jayanti shobha yatra, can purportedly be seen in photos campaigning for the then BJP candidate from the area, Sangita Bajaj. She had lost the election. He can also be seen wearing a saffron scarf with a lotus on it, as well as a saffron lotus badge.

“The main accused of the Jahangirpuri riots, Ansar, is a BJP leader who played a major role in the election campaign of BJP’s councillor candidate Sangita Bajaj. It is now clear that the BJP is behind the riots and it should apologise to Delhiites and accept that it is a party of goons and miscreants,” said senior AAP leader Atishi at a press conference.
The BJP hit back and said that Bajaj had joined the AAP in January 2020, and that Ansar “must have joined with her”.
“AAP leaders issued a very old photo to show that Ansar is campaigning for BJP’s councillor candidate Sangita Bajaj. While issuing this photo, they forgot that Bajaj, along with her supporters, joined the AAP on January 21, 2020, in presence of MP Sanjay Singh. Ansar must have gone with her,” said Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana.
Caught in the middle, Bajaj told The Indian Express that she did not know Ansar:“I had joined the AAP in 2020 but they did not give me any document confirming that I had joined. Before joining AAP, I was in BJP. Currently I am not very active in politics… When elections are held, hundreds of people move around you. There is no evidence to show that I met Ansar or spoke to him.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, Atishi said that the BJP has no proof to show that Ansar had joined AAP along with Bajaj. “Do they have any proof? If yes, come forward and show it,” she said.
BJP leaders had earlier shared photos of Ansar wearing a cap with AAP written on it and alleged that he was an AAP member. Asked about the photo, Atishi said it was photoshopped.
AAP national spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said that BJP was following the same “script” across the country. “These communal riots did not simply take place in Delhi… they were orchestrated in seven states across the country… Who is benefitting from this pre-planned violence and upheaval… which political party is sitting with the script to recite on news channels to take advantage of the communal divide the moment a riot breaks out?” he said.
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