Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had a narrow escape on Monday when some men armed with iron rods attacked his car here, coming “within an inch of grievously injuring” him, the AAP said.
Kejriwal, whose five-day tour of Punjab ended on Monday, tweeted that his car was attacked with sticks and stones, breaking the front glass pane. “Badals and Congress nervousIJ They can't break my spirits,” the Aam Aadmi Party leader added.
AAP leader Ashish Khetan called it a “well orchestrated attack” and said the “goons sent by Badals attacked Kejriwal's car with stones and rods as police stood by.
“The attackers came within an inch of grievously injuring Kejriwal. It was only by god's grace that he escaped unhurt,” Khetan added.
The AAP put out a photograph showing the shattered front glass pane with a visibly worried Punjab police officer standing close by. The car appeared to be stranded on a rural road, with a police vehicle in the front.
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh later, AAP leaders said the attack on Kejriwal was a state sponsored act. Terming it to be an act of cowardice, AAP leader and Incharge Punjab Sanjay Singh said that it was a well planned conspiracy of the ruling alliance.
Training guns directly on the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Sanjay Singh said that few assailants have been identified to be the member of SAD or associated with the party. Accompanying AAP Punjab Convener Suchha Singh Chhotepur and Durgesh Pathak, Sanjay Singh said, “Had the AAP supporters not reacted smartly, the assailants could have killed Kejriwal”
Sanjay Singh said the way both Congress and SAD were trying to point their guns towards AAP. It showed that their party has emerged to be the most formidable political force in the state.
He said that it was surprising that the assailants were waiting for the cavalcade of Kejriwal silently and police had not made any arrangements for the security for the Chief Minister of another state.
He said that scared of the support that has been shown by the people of Punjab to AAP, the ruling alliance has stooped to the tactics, which were adopted by Congress and BJP in Delhi, and now the fate of the SAD and Congress would be the same, and Punjab people will repeat Delhi here.
Durgesh Pathak, who was accompanying Kejriwal in his car said that the police escort left the car of Kejriwal when stones were being pelted on the car. He said that for a few minutes, Kejriwal and his companions were left exposed to the assailants completely and anything could have done.
Demanding strict action against the assailants, Sanjay Singh said that assailants be brought to book at the earliest as most of the assailants could be recognized easily. AAP has emerged as a major player ahead of assembly elections in Punjab due next year.