AAP protests outside Jaitley's house, BJP retaliates

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members Tuesday protested outside BJP leader Arun Jaitley's house following which BJP workers too hit back and held a counter-protest against the party, particularly targeting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

While the AAP supporters accused Jaitley of trying to topple its minority government in Delhi, Jaitley said the AAP did not know about governance and was more comfortable holding street protests.

In a stinging criticism, Jaitley said the AAP "does not know statecraft and how to run a government". He said the AAP was "perhaps unable" to do the work they were mandated to do and their "comfort level is to keep holding street demonstrations".

On Monday, AAP legislator from Kasturba Nagar Madan Lal had alleged he was approached by men who claimed to be representatives of Jaitley and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, in a bid to topple the AAP government in Delhi.

Lal claimed he was offered as much as Rs.20 crore, but had no proof to back his allegations.

A number of AAP protestors gathered outside Jaitley's residence in south Delhi's Kailash Colony area Tuesday morning, raised slogans and held up banners criticising Jaitley.

The BJP workers, countering the protest, shouted slogans against Kejriwal and accused him of not fulfilling the promises he made to the people of Delhi before the Dec 4 assembly elections.

Amid the protest, Jaitley came out of his house and thanked the party workers for their support while slamming the AAP.

Jaitley also trashed Lal's allegations. He said that neither he nor Modi know Lal.

Lal claimed he got a call allegedly from an unknown number Dec 7 from a man who said Jaitley wanted to speak to him.

"He said he got a call Dec 7. On that day, a day ahead of the results, no one could imagine he would win the seat, and he claims he got a call from me," said Jaitley, adding that the party was resorting to "fareb ki rajneeti" (politics of deceit).

He said the AAP, in order to justify the allegations of Lal, held a press conference Monday and were holding a demonstration against him Tuesday.

He also claimed that the AAP would lose the mandate of the people if they continued in this manner.

Protestors from the two parties were separated by barricades as they shouted slogans at each other outside Jaitley's house for several hours.

There was heavy deployment of police personnel, many of whom were in riot gear.