Shortly after the BJP’s Tajinder Pal Bagga was arrested in Delhi by the Punjab Police, the party - ruling at the Centre - launched a full-blown attack on the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). From sharing videos and photos of the incident, to alleging that Bagga’s father was assaulted, tweets poured out on social media by BJP leaders.
Delhi BJP leaders and workers, led by State president Adesh Gupta staged a protest and raised slogans against Kejriwal and the Punjab Police even as police tried to stop them from moving to the AAP headquarters on DDU Marg.
Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Delhi BJP vice-president Virendra Sachdeva, Vikram Mittal, party spokesperson Praveen Kapoor and many other leaders were present in the protest. The BJP leaders alleged that Kejriwal was pursuing vendetta through the State police.
Later addressing a press conference, Delhi BJP leaders, including Gupta, slammed Kejriwal and said, “Bagga had been picked up for unmasking his lies.” Several BJP workers also gathered outside a police station and protested against the Punjab Police's action.
Gupta said, "It is said that if you want to see someone's real face, give that person power. The real character and face of Kejriwal has now come to the fore."
He also alleged that Bagga was insulted by Punjab Police personnel as they did not allow him to wear his turban and roughed up his father. BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa alleged that a Sikh, a reference to Bagga, has been "insulted" despite Punjab having a Sikh Chief Minister in Bhagwant Mann.
Kejriwal is taking Punjab back to the politics of 1980s which was marred by militancy, he said, adding that the BJP stands with Bagga.
BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, who last month protested outside Kejriwal’s home over his remarks on the movie ‘The Kashmir Files, on Friday tweeted: “Have spoken with @TajinderBagga’s mother.
Assured her that entire organisation is with them in this hour of oppression. BJYM will do everything in our capacity to bring Bagga back to safety & liberty. “We will fight back! @ArvindKejriwal, you have messed with the wrong guys,” he said.
“Arvind Kejriwal’s brazen misuse of Punjab Police to target political opponents is not unexpected. He had been raging for this. But this won’t go down well. We will fight to secure every single karyakarta of ours and ensure that Kejriwal learns how to handle power the hard way,” BJP social media head Amit Malviya wrote.
Tagging Bhagwant Mann, Sirsa, who had a couple of months ago shifted from the Akali Dal to the BJP, tweeted in Hindi: “In Punjab, goons, mafia are killing openly, youth are dying due to drugs and the Punjab Police is being used for revenge politics in Delhi. Don't defame Sikhs like this @BhagwantMann ji #iStandWithTajinderBagga”.
Another Delhi BJP leader, Nupur Sharma, cited a court ruling to say that police from another State must inform the local police before making any arrest. Punjab Police's action, she said, was illegal as it did not inform its Delhi counterparts.