 outside the BJP central office in Delhi.){kind=link}
On Friday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart, Bhagwant Mann, led a protest organized by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) outside the BJP central office in Delhi. The demonstration aimed to denounce the alleged rigging of the recently held mayoral polls in Chandigarh.
Simultaneously, a few hundred meters away, the BJP, led by its state president Virendra Sachdeva, staged a counter-protest outside the AAP office, accusing the ruling party of corruption.
Despite securing a majority in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the AAP-Congress alliance lost the mayoral election to the BJP on Tuesday, following the invalidation of eight votes by a returning officer affiliated with the BJP.
During the protest, Kejriwal chanted the slogan: “Gali Gali mein shor hai, BJP vote chor hai” (Every street echoes with the cry, BJP is a vote thief). He accused the BJP of stealing votes in the Chandigarh mayoral polls, deeming them a threat to the country’s democracy. Kejriwal asserted that they would take to the streets if necessary to safeguard democracy and the nation.
Bhagwant Mann added, “If the intention of the BJP people was good, this (result) would not have happened. The names of those who reached here in large numbers to give oxygen to the country’s democracy when it is in danger and is breathing its last will be written in the pages of history.”
During the protest, several AAP supporters, including MLAs, were detained in their constituencies, and entry points into the city were barricaded.
At the BJP protest, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor announced a door-to-door campaign against the Kejriwal government, which is facing corruption allegations in its now-shelved liquor policy. BJP workers raised slogans against Kejriwal and demanded his resignation, accusing his government of corruption.
State President Virendra Sachdeva claimed that the Kejriwal government has become synonymous with corruption, alleging scams related to liquor and drinking water. He accused a scam in the Delhi Jal Board under the patronage of the Kejriwal government.
Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramveer Singh Bidhuri, addressed the protesters, predicting that Kejriwal would soon face imprisonment similar to his former deputy Manish Sisodia. Sisodia has been in jail since February last year in connection with the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.