Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar staged arrest in attempt to influence elections: Mayawati

Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) leader Mayawati on Sunday targeted Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad and accused him of conspiring with opposition parties in order to weaken the support base of BSP.

The BSP chief also blamed him of staging an 'arrest' in Delhi in an attempt to influence the upcoming assembly polls in the Union Territory.

Azad was taken into police custody while he was taking part in an anti-CAA protest march on Saturday and has been sent to 14-day judicial custody.

Taking to Twitter, the BSP supremo said, "The common perception among Dalits is that Chandrashekhar Azad conspires with opposing parties to weaken support for the BSP. He raises the local issues when the elections are nearing and stages protests and gets arrested to influence voters."

"For instance, he is a resident of Uttar Pradesh, but attended the Jama Masjid protest against CAA/NRC in Delhi and forcibly got arrested because assembly polls are going to be held in the capital soon," Mayawati stated in another tweet.

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also urged her party workers to keep an eye on such 'selfish elements'.

"It is an appeal to the people of the party to always be vigilant with all such selfish elements, organisations and parties", she added.

Protests have erupted across the country against the Act, which grants Indian citizenship to Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.