BJP, AAP battle on streets

Delhi police registers criminal case against AAP workers

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)  workers on Wednesday fought running battles with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists outside the latter’s  headquarters in Delhi and Lucknow, hours after AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal’s car was damaged in Gujarat.

The violence on the streets came on the day the Election Commission announced the Lok Sabha poll schedule and police in Gujarat stopped Kejriwal, who began a four-day tour of the state, in his tracks for alleged violation of the model code of conduct by travelling in a long cavalcade. He was later allowed to go.

 

Accusing Chief Minister Narendra Modi of getting scared of Kejriwal and initiating police action,  AAP workers stormed the BJP head office on Ashoka Road in central Delhi, protesting against Kejriwal’s detention in north Gujarat.

The rival party members attacked each other with stones. Plastic chairs were hurled from inside the BJP office on the protesters outside.  The area outside the BJP office turned into a battle field.

Police used water canons to disperse the warring activists. At least five people from either side were injured, police said.

A case will be filed, police said. Nalin Kohli, a BJP office bearer, accused journalist-turned-AAP leader Ashutosh, a candidate from the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency, of engineering the trouble and demanded his arrest.     

AAP leaders hit back, saying it was the BJP activists who provoked violence.

 

"We cannot change the path of our caravan. What was the need to detain Kejriwal? Modi is scared of Kejriwal. Rahul Gandhi is in Aurangabad but he wasn't stopped. This rally was fixed days in advance," AAP leader Shazia Ilmi, who was among the protesters, said.

 

"What was the need to fire water cannons and throw stones at us. I was myself standing here. We were only shouting slogans against Modi," she said.

 

Ashutosh was also critical of the police action. "We have been protesting peacefully. Congress and BJP are hand in gloves. All are scared of AAP."

 

As he embarked on his four-day tour to verify Modi's claims of providing water, power, education and healthcare to people of Gujarat, Kejriwal was taken to Radhanpur police station in north Gujarat and allowed to go after half an hour.

 

AAP's state convenor Sukhdev Patel claimed that Kejriwal was detained but police denied it saying they had only "briefed" Kejriwal on the model code of conduct which came into force today with the declaration of poll schedule.