Maliwal 'assault' linked to CM's desire to send lawyer to RS, claims BJP

The Delhi BJP on Sunday claimed Chief Minister Kejriwal wanted to send a senior lawyer to the Rajya Sabha and the alleged assault on Swati Maliwal, an AAP member of the Upper House, was connected to it.

The BJP's Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva also asked how AAP came to the conclusion about the saffron party's involvement in the matter when Maliwal was allegedly assaulted at Kejriwal's residence by his close aide Bibhav Kumar.

AAP leaders have claimed that Maliwal's allegation is a conspiracy by the BJP to trap Kejriwal.

Kejriwal on Sunday claimed the BJP has launched "Operation Jhadoo" to crush AAP as the saffron party sees his party as a "challenge".

The BJP's Delhi chief Sachdeva, however, said AAP supremo Kejriwal is enacting a "political drama" over Maliwal's "assault" charge while maintaining silence on the issue.

The Delhi chief minister and AAP leaders held a protest near the BJP headquarters in the national capital earlier in the day.

Kejriwal had earlier alleged that Narendra Modi was playing a "game" of sending AAP leaders to jail and announced to march with his leaders, MLAs, MPs and ministers to the BJP headquarters so that anyone the prime minister wanted could be arrested and sent to jail.
 

Sachdeva said at a press conference, "It's a new political drama by Kejriwal. He is free to stage protests and dharnas but he should at least once utter a word for Maliwal, who has been closely associated with him and his party for two decades."

Alleging that the "assault" on Mailwal was linked to Kejriwal's desire to send a senior lawyer to the Upper House, Sachdeva said the Delhi chief minister is concerned over Kumar's arrest because he is privy to his "wrongdoings and corruption".

Maliwal alleged that Kumar assaulted her on May 13 when she had gone to the chief minister's residence to meet him.

Kumar was arrested on Saturday and produced in a court, which remanded him in five-day police custody. The Delhi Police has booked Kumar for molestation and attempted culpable homicide after Maliwal's complaint.

Sachdeva alleged that the Maliwal assault case has "exposed" Kejriwal and his claim that AAP is an ideology is "bogus".

His only ideology is "loot and corruption", he charged.

Kejriwal has said that despite the BJP and the prime minister's efforts to crush AAP by arresting its leaders, the party will not break apart because it is a thought that has influenced millions across the country.