Maliwal incident: Kejri faces BJP heat over assault at CM residence
Though former Delhi Commission for Women chairperson and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Swati Maliwal is yet to lodge a formal complaint against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar for the alleged assault on her at this residence, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to accuse AAP leaders of being disrespectful towards women.
Some BJP leaders recalled a previous attack on Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash at the CM’s residence on the night of February
19, 2018, following which an FIR was registered against Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and nine others. All the accused in the case were discharged by a Delhi court in 2021.
Reacting to the alleged assault on Maliwal, Delhi BJP president Virendraa Sachdeva called the incident “shameful”, adding that Kejriwal’s residence had witnessed similar incidents in the past. Referring to the earlier case Sachdeva said “Delhi's former chief secretary was also assaulted in the CM's residence.”
Acknowledging that Maliwal is known to raise issues pertaining to Delhi, he hoped that “she would not sit quietly this time and would let the people know what kind of disgusting person resides there.”
BJP national secretary Tarun Chugh demanded that an FIR be registered and also recalled the earlier attack on the former CS. “First the former chief secretary and other officials were assaulted and threatened and now a female MP of AAP has been assaulted by his secretary Bibhav in his office,” he said, jibing that “the CMO has become a boxing ring.”
BJP IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya through a post on ‘X’ referred to Maliwal’s growing distance with AAP leaders. “Remember, Swati Maliwal had maintained radio silence on Kejriwal’s arrest. She was in fact not even in India at that time and didn’t return for a long time,” he wrote.
Other BJP leaders and union ministers launched attacks on AAP. Union minister Rajeev Chandrashekar too recalled the earlier assault and said: “Don’t forget, this is the same Kejriwal who also assaulted the chief secretary IAS officer.” Another BJP leader, Kapil Mishra, who was earlier in AAP, demanded clarification. “Will the Chief Minister’s office give any clarification?” he asked.