AAP, BJP to take 'upadravi gotra' issue to EC

The row over Arvind Kejriwal being shown of "upadravi gotra" - or destructive subcaste - has led the AAP and the BJP locking horns, with both parties gearing up to lodge complaints against each other with the Election Commission.

Aam Aadmi Party chief Kejriwal said he, while following social activist Anna Hazare's ideals that one must have the capacity to tolerate insult, ignored many insulting acts of the Bharatiya Janata Party but they "crossed limits" and his party will now approach the poll panel.

"What has happened to the BJP, first they targeted my children, but I tolerated it. Annaji has said we must have capacity to tolerate insult," Kejriwal tweeted.

"In social life, I never complained against personal insult. But this advertisement crosses the limit. They are calling the whole Agrawal caste destructive. They say I belong to a destructive subcaste," he said.

Meanwhile, the BJP denied having made any caste reference in an election advertisement that mocked Kejriwal and accused the AAP of giving it a religious and casteist connotation.

"It is extremely sad that certain political parties are trying to convert a political statement. An expression, used to represent that political party's ideology, has been sought to be converted on religious ground," BJP leader and union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said here.

"This is a political commentary on their (AAP) ideology, that is anarchy. The term has been metaphorically used but it is being twisted and misused by the AAP," he said.

"It is a conspiracy of the AAP to give religious and casteist tone to the election process," the BJP leader said, adding that the BJP will approach the Election Commission on the issue.

The advertisement featured a caricature of Kejriwal, saying he will disrupt the Republic Day parade, and also ask for a VIP pass next year.

It used the term "upadravi gotra" or destructive subcaste alluding to Kejriwal, the former Delhi chief minister.