BJP stages protest near CM’s residence, demands probe in Swati Maliwal ‘assault’ case

Anshita Mehra

New Delhi, May 15

The Delhi BJP staged a protest outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Wednesday, condemning the alleged mistreatment of RS MP Swati Maliwal.

Meanwhile, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh met party colleague Swati Maliwal, but leaders refused to give details.

Led by Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva, activists of BJP’s Mahila Morcha demanded strict action against Bibhav Kumar, Kejriwal’s close aide.

Delhi BJP vice-president Alka Gurjar, State Women’s Front president Richa Pandey Mishra and other party leaders were present alongside hundreds of supporters. However, several women protesters, including Mishra and Vaishali Poddar, were detained by the police and later released after a warning.

Protester Neha said, “If a woman, who served as the Delhi women commission president, faces assault within the Chief Minister’s residence and is pressured not to file a formal complaint, it raises serious doubts about the safety of women in the Capital.”

Sachdeva said, “If any sister of Delhi faces misconduct, the BJP will take to the streets, as we are doing today for the honour of Maliwal.” He criticised Kejriwal’s silence on the matter, urging him to take immediate action.

Simultaneously, while addressing a press conference today, BJP leader Shazia Ilmi, former AAP member, expressed disbelief over the alleged assault on Maliwal by Kejriwal’s close aide. Ilmi, who had been part of the AAP since the Anna Hazare movement before she joined the BJP in 2015, questioned the plausibility of the incident occurring without Kejriwal’s knowledge.

She said, “I cannot believe that any aide would assault Maliwal without the CM’s knowledge. I have seen the filth that is there in the party, the sordid state of affairs…people are getting to know the reality of this man and what goes on in this sultan’s Sheeshmahal.”