assembly-elections

Updated: Jan 24, 2020 17:30 IST

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fired a fresh salvo against Congress and the Aam Aami Party in election-bound Delhi by saying that the protest in Shaheen Bagh is backed by the two parties.

“Yesterday, what Delhi chief minister and deputy chief minister said showed that Shaheen Bagh is a result of collusion between Congress and AAP. There is an effort to mislead people. Slogans like ‘Jinnah wali azadi’ are being raised. People need to decide what they want: ‘Jinnah wali azadi’ or ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’,” Union minister Prakash Javadekar said on Friday.

The Union minister further said that Congress leaders regularly visit Shaheen Bagh,a nd Thursday’s statements by Kejriwal and Sisodia prove that they too support the agitation.

Javadekar was responding to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s statement at an event organised by a private television on Thursday where he said he backs Shaheen Bagh protesters.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, speaking to another television channel on Thursday, said, “The protest at Shaheen Bagh won’t stop if I visit the site. If my presence can scrap CAA and NRC, I will do it in 5 minutes. The Centre has to end these protests. If they drop CAA and NRC, not just Shaheen Bagh, protesters all over the country will go to their homes.”

The BJP has been consistently attacking AAP and Congress - their principal opponent in the Delhi Assembly elections. “These people started provoking the youth, minorities and caused riots in Delhi. Did you see or not. Today also Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia says unashamedly that they are with those protesting at Shaheen Bagh,” Home Minister Amit Shah said at a rally in Delhi on Thursday.

BJP president J P Nadda also stepped into the fray to attack both the parties who he said are backing Shaheen Bagh protests. “Some people are sitting in protest against CAA but not a single Congress leader has condemned it, that is their character...,” Nadda said at a public meeting in Palam on Thursday.

“Vote comes first for them and country later. For us, country is important not the vote,” Nadda added.

Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel said, “AAP is running away from its responsibilities. Why haven’t AAP leaders gone to Shaheen Bagh yet?...Shaheen Bagh has become Shame Bagh.”

The BJP is trying to make a comeback in Delhi where it has been out of power for more than two decades. The party could win only three seats in the last assembly polls in 2015 with the AAP scoring a landslide victory with 67 seats.

In 2013, the BJP had won 31 seats and secured a vote share of 33.07 per cent. It reduced by about just one per cent in 2015 and stood at 32.1 per cent but the party barely managed to win three seats.

The voting for the 70-member Delhi assembly will be held on February 8. The votes will be counted on February 11.