nDelhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged that individuals associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attempted to attack its convener Arvind Kejriwal during his padyatra in West Delhi’s Vikaspuri on Friday evening. The Delhi BJP leaders have denied the claim.

The AAP also blamed the police and alleged that “Delhi Police did not stop the BJP goons”. However, the Delhi Police has denied the claim, stating there has been no attack on the AAP chief, and no complaint has been registered on the same.

Trashing the claims made by AAP, Delhi BJP Virendra Sachdeva claimed that there has been no attack on Kejriwal and said “it is public resentment, which has grown steadily since election campaigning began”, adding that “Kejriwal must realise that the people are fed up with him and his MLAs. He should refrain from contesting elections, and the tickets of all 58 AAP MLAs should also be revoked.”

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijendra Gupta called the AAP’s claim another attempt to play the victim card. “The AAP government is attempting to mislead the public with new dramas each day. Facing declining popularity and unsuccessful policies, AAP leaders are now playing the victim card. Today’s so-called attack on Kejriwal is yet another orchestrated ploy aimed solely at gaining public sympathy,” Gupta said.

Taking to social media, AAP leader Manish Sisodia said the attack on Arvind Kejriwal is extremely condemnable and worrying.

He alleged that the BJP has carried out this attack through its goons. AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj labelled the incident a “cowardly” act, claiming it was due to Kejriwal’s growing connection with the public. “If Kejriwal faces any harm, the BJP will be solely responsible,” Bharadwaj warned. Ahead of the February 2025 elections, AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, are conducting padyatras across Delhi’s assembly constituencies.

At a press conference, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi accused the BJP of resorting to “dirty politics” against AAP. “The people of Delhi have seen the depths to which BJP’s tactics can sink. Arvind Kejriwal was attacked by BJP goons during his padyatra in Vikaspuri. The BJP knows it cannot defeat AAP and Arvind Kejriwal in elections, so they’ve resorted to these tactics and want to harm him,” she stated.

However, the nature of the attack is not clear as of yet. According to AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, “the BJP cannot tolerate the way people are supporting and loving him. First they tried to kill Kejriwal in jail and now they are doing all this. Whatever they do, these people cannot defeat Arvind Kejriwal.”

Meanwhile, the AAP approached the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the Centre to allot a residence in the Capital to the party’s Convener Arvind Kejriwal. The senior counsel appearing in the court on behalf of the party said according to the guidelines issued in this regard, the president of a national political party is entitled to a residential accommodation in Delhi and therefore, former CM Kejriwal should be allotted a residence. Justice Sanjeev Narula sought the Centre’s stand on the petition and listed it for hearing on November 26.