Gujarat Assembly elections are only a few months away. Amidst the election atmosphere heating up in the state, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Arvind Kejriwal has already abandoned his duties as Delhi CM to campaign in Gujarat on a massive scale.
Following the videos of an argument between Kejriwal and Gujarat Police over security where Kejriwal claimed Gujarat Police made him hostage on the pretext of security, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra suggested Kejriwal may plan an attack on himself to add to the chaos ahead of the state elections.
Speaking to OpIndia, Mishra said, “Aam Aadmi Party itself wrote to Gujarat Police that there was a threat on Arvind Kejriwal’s life in Gujarat and he should get security. They had written in April that whenever Kejriwal comes to Gujarat, he should get adequate security as he may get attacked. Now Kejriwal is saying he does not need security.”
He added, “It seems he is planning an attack on himself that he does every time before elections. He wants to repeat such plans. It is notable that the list of the people who have gotten security in Punjab has Kejriwal’s name on the top. Someone who has Z+ security from Punjab Government, someone who has sought security from the Central Government and whose party itself sought security for its leader, gets security, and then claims he does not want security. This was a scripted act that Kejriwal performed in Gujarat.”
Mishra added, “The saddest part of the whole fiasco was that the police officer for whom he used unparliamentary language was a common man from Gujarat. He should not have behaved in such a manner with him. Kejriwal should have at least respected a common Gujarati man.”
The ‘attacks’ that happened on Kejriwal over the years
Kejriwal has a history of making tall claims that he might get attacked because of his rising popularity. In July 2016, Kejriwal released a short clip and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was so scared of his rising popularity that ‘anything might happen’. Kejriwal, at that time, asserted that he might get killed. However, following his tall claims, AAP faced defeat in Goa and Punjab. Kejriwal then calmed down and resorted to regular attacks on BJP and PM Modi.
Down the line, there have been some incidents where AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, were “attacked” with ink, slaps, and more. On May 4, 2019, a man slapped Kejriwal during a road show in the Moti Nagar area of Delhi. The incident happened when Kejriwal was standing in a vehicle and waving at the crowd. A man suddenly climbed the vehicle and slapped him.
In November 2018, a man smeared Red Chilli Powder on Kejriwal’s face. The man was identified as Anil Sharma. He came close to Kejriwal to hand over a letter and smeared his face with chilli powder.
In April 2016, Kejriwal was attacked with a shoe. The man was identified as Ved Prakash of Aam Aadmi Sena. He later alleged that the AAP government was selling fake CNG stickers during the odd-even scheme.
In January 2016, Aam Aadmi Party member Arjun Arora got fed up with his leader and threw ink at him during a meeting.
On April 8, 2014, Kejriwal was slapped by an auto-rickshaw driver in Sultanpuri, Delhi. Four days before the incident, another auto driver had tried to slap him but failed.
During Lok Sabha 2014 election campaign, people had thrown eggs and ink at Kejriwal and other AAP leaders when they went to Uttar Pradesh for campaigning.
In another incident during election campaigning in the same period, someone climbed his open jeep and hit him on his neck. The attacker was allegedly an Anna Hazare Supporter.
Back in 2013, a man named Nachiketa Veghrekar had thrown ink at Kejriwal during a press conference. Nachiketa was also allegedly Anna Hazare Supporter.
Attacks on other AAP leaders
In December 2020, Deputy CM of Delhi and AAP leader Manish Sisodia claimed that BJP workers attacked his house. The party had claimed that the incident happened in the presence of the Police.
In August 2022, Gujarat AAP leader Manoj Sorathiya was allegedly attacked by some people. The party blamed BJP for the attack.
In March 2022, AAP claimed that BJP workers attacked AAP leader Satyendra Jain’s convoy. Satyendra Jain is in prison now over money laundering charges.
Every time there is either an election on the line or any AAP leader is under investigation, someone from the party gets attacked, and AAP starts blaming the ruling party, BJP. It will be interesting to see if Gujarat falls for this drama like Delhi.
