Second attack on AAP leader in last five days, Arvind Kejriwal prays for peace at Raj Ghat

By Vasudha Venugopal

NEW DELHI: THE Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) chief, Arvind Kejriwal, was attacked for the second time in the last five days while campaigning.

An autorickshaw driver slapped him after garlanding the leader in Delhi, which is going to the polls in two days.

Kejriwal’s party leadership held a silent prayer meeting at Raj Ghat, ostensibly to maintain peace. The AAP leaders blamed the attack on BJP and Congress.

While AAP’s Manish Sisodia suspected the hand of either BJP or Congress behind the incident, former Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti was more specific.

“The BJP people are venomous in their attacks. Even during morning walks, they counter me with more ferocity because they see their PM spot going away from them,” Bharti said.

The autorickshaw driver slapped Kejriwal in Sultanpuri in North West Delhi constituency, where the AAP leader was campaigning for party candidate Rakhi Birla. Witnesses said that the man who attacked Kejriwal seemed angry with the party for not delivering on promises made to auto drivers.

Some auto drivers associations claimed the accused, 38-year-old Lali, was not a registered auto driver.

“It is impossible that one of us could have attacked Kejriwal. He has done a lot for us and we have always supported him,” said Jyotimay Yadav, an auto-driver.

“I have come to know that the BJP and Congress have been making use of many unemployed youth for attacking me. If they think the country’s problems can be solved by getting me beaten up, I am ready to come alone wherever they call me,” said Kejriwal, who had ink, oil and even an egg hurled at him on earlier occasions.

Last Friday, the AAP chief was punched while campaigning at Dakshinpuri in south Delhi.

Repeated TV broadcasts of the auto driver slapping Kejriwal set social networks on fire. Tweets from supporters of the BJP alleged the whole drama was stage-managed.

Senior AAP leaders such as Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan appealed to people on twitter to support the party. While top tweets said the recurrent slaps were on “every voice that spoke against corruption,” many said, it was a slap for 'betraying the aam aadmi.” By evening, the tops trends on twitter included Sultanpuri, Rajghat, IStandwith-Arvind and Slapped again and even memes on his swollen eye.