BJP corners Kejriwal on Shaheen Bagh stir, asks him to clarify stance

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 27

Turning Shaheen Bagh into a poll issue for upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, the BJP on Monday dared chief rival AAP to take a clear stance on the ongoing protests in the national capital.

Union Minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said “Shaheen Bagh is not an area anymore, it is an idea, where the Indian flag is being used as a cover for the people who want to divide the country, it is being supported by tukde-tukde gang”

He also pointed to problems the residents were facing due to the ongoing protests.

While the BJP is trying to corner rivals Arvind Kejriwal and the Congress on the issue, asking them to clarify their stance, the Delhi CM has approached the subject cautiously.

Opposition parties are also accusing the BJP of using Shaheen Bagh to polarise Delhi voters.

BJP president JP Nadda on Monday accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of “supporting those who want to break India”, as he raised the issue of the AAP government not giving police the permission to prosecute JNUSU ex-president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in a sedition case.

He also sought to know from the AAP national convener “whether acting against anti-nationals would hurt his vote bank”.

“Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and other anti-India forces raised seditious slogans like ‘Bharat tere tukde honge’ in JNU. They were threatening to violate India’s sovereignty. Law enforcement agencies moved in, investigated the matter and in Jan 2019 were ready to file chargesheet,” Nadda tweeted.

They sought Kejriwal’s permission to prosecute this tukde tukde gang but one year later, till y’day, no permission was granted. Kejriwal must tell Delhi why is he supporting those who want to break India? Is it because acting against these anti-nationals will hurt his vote bank?

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) January 27, 2020

“They (police) sought Kejriwal’s permission to prosecute this ‘tukde tukde’ gang but one year later, till yesterday, no permission was granted. Kejriwal must tell Delhi why is he supporting those who want to break India? Is it because acting against these anti-nationals will hurt his vote bank,” he wrote on the microblogging site.

In its campaign for the February 8 Assembly polls in the national capital, the BJP has often raised the issue of the AAP government so far not granting Delhi Police its nod to prosecute the accused in the case of raising seditious slogans at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

On January 14, the police had filed a chargesheet in the court against Kanhaiya Kumar and others, including former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, saying they were leading a procession and supported the seditious slogans raised on the campus during an event on February 9, 2016.

A court is Delhi has directed the police to get the requisite nod by February 19. PTI

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