Nirbhaya's mother being 'misguided', Delhi govt had no role in delaying convicts' hanging : Kejriwal

Denying the Delhi government's role in delaying the hanging of the Nirbhaya case convicts, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said the victim's mother is being "misguided" and accused BJP leader Prakash Javadekar of politicising the matter.

Kejriwal, who is the AAP's national convener, told reporters that whatever responsibilities the Delhi government had, it had finished them within a few hours.

"We sent the mercy petition within hours, so the Delhi government has no role in delaying the hanging of the convicts," he said.

On Javadekar's allegations that the Delhi government is delaying the convicts' hanging, Kejriwal said the BJP leader is doing politics over the matter and this is not good.

Union minister Javadekar had also said that all the four convicts would have been hanged by now, had the AAP government acted quickly and served notices to them immediately after the Supreme Court rejected their appeal against death sentence in 2017.

Reacting to reports that Nirbhaya's mother said those people who held protests on streets in 2012, today they are only playing with her daughter's death for political gains, Kejriwal said she is being "misguided".

"Why would our government try to delay, we want them hanged at the earliest. I think she is being misguided. The Delhi government barely has any role in the whole process," he said.

The AAP has accused the BJP of "misleading" the people, saying law and order is the Centre's domain.