Battle for Delhi: Kejriwal, Upadhyay engage in mudslinging

Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi unit president Satish Upadhyay and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal hurled accusations and counter-accusations at each other as the race for the Delhi assembly warmed up.

Kejriwal was the first off the mark, accusing the BJP leader of having a nexus with several power discoms providing electricity to the national capital.

"Despite knowing that Satish Upadhyay had relations with power firms, the BJP appointed him the president of its Delhi chapter. The people of the city want to know what kind of relations he has," Kejriwal said at a rally, adding that Upadhyay owned six companies which had business interests with major power discoms.

In response, Upadhyay threatened to file a defamation case against the former Delhi chief minister.

"He is lying and we will file a criminal defamation case against him tomorrow. He has adopted a hit-and-run policy... If the companies named by him don't belong to me, will he quit politics?" Upadhyay said to the media.

Upadhyay further challenged Kejriwal to prove his accusations within 24 hours and said that he would file a defamation case if the AAP chief were unable to do so.

Last year, Kejriwal stepped down as chief minister after a mere 49 days in power, following which President's rule was imposed on the national capital.

Lieutenant Governor (LG) Najeeb Jung sent a status report in November to the Ministry of Home Affairs over government formation in the capital after his consultations with leaders of the BJP, Congress and the AAP to explore the possibility of government formation in Delhi. The LG met all the three party leaders separately, but expressed their inability to form the government.

The elections for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held in a single phase on February 7, with the counting of votes set to take place on February 10.