New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday said every time Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal takes Lord Ram’s name for political reasons, it hurts the sentiments of crores of devotees.
Speaking in the Assembly on Saturday, Kejriwal said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would have sent central agencies even after Lord Ram if he existed in this era for forcing him to join the saffron outfit or go to jail.
“If Lord Ram existed in this era, they (BJP) would have sent the ED and the CBI to his home too and asked him at gunpoint whether he wanted to go to the BJP or jail,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said, citing the eight summonses issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy of his government.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said while speaking in the Assembly, Kejriwal sounded like he was fighting a “lost battle”.
It is regrettable that AAP leaders repeatedly use Lord Ram’s name to gain sympathy, he added.
“Kejriwal should know that every time he takes Lord Ram’s name for political reasons, like he did while talking about the ED notices to him, he hurts the sentiments of crores of voters who are devotees of Lord Ram,” Sachdeva said.
He further alleged that in his speech, Kejriwal also tried to extend a false hope to former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.
Speaking on the budget for 2024-25, which was tabled in the Assembly on Monday, Kejriwal remembered Sisodia, who also served as the finance minister in his government, before being arrested in the excise policy case last year.
The chief minister hoped that his former deputy would be able to present the city government’s budget in the Assembly next year.
“Kejriwal is under pressure from Sisodia and so he gives him false political hopes time and again, while he actually knows that Sisodia is unlikely to get bail in the near future,” the BJP leader said.
The chief minister hit out at the BJP in the Assembly, accusing it of pursuing a model of “vinash” (destruction) to eliminate opposition parties, stall the work of their governments and topple them by using central agencies and poaching their MLAs.
He also claimed that the BJP has planned to place him under arrest and topple his government in Delhi to finish the AAP.
PTI