AAP, BJP quarrel after security scare at Kejriwal’s foot march in Delhi

A man hurled an unidentified liquid on former Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal during a foot march in south Delhi’s Savitri Nagar, sparking a security scare that also triggered a high-voltage political showdown by the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) weeks before the critical assembly elections in the national capital.
The alleged accused, later identified by Delhi Police as Ashok Jha, 41, was detained from the spot, and at the time of going to print, he remained in police custody.
The incident, which was caught on video by the media, triggered a face-off on two fronts — first, on the identity and allegiance of the accused, and second on the nature of the liquid.
While the AAP blamed the BJP for the incident — alleging that the accused was a “BJP functionary”, and that the liquid was “spirit” — the BJP alleged that the incident was just a “spectacle” carried out by the AAP, and that the liquid in question was “just water”. The BJP also contended that the accused was “one of the 10,000 bus marshals who lost their jobs in Delhi”.
Delhi Police confirmed that the liquid was water and stated they are investigating the motive.
Officials said Jha is a bus marshal posted at the Khanpur depot, but the transport department has yet to verify the claim.
To be sure, this is not the first time Kejriwal’s security has been compromised. In May 2019, during a roadshow in Moti Nagar, he was slapped by a man who said he was frustrated with Kejriwal’s policies. In 2016, ink was thrown at him during a rally at Chhatrasal Stadium.
Saturday’s incident occurred at around 5.50pm at Chopal, Savitri Nagar — part of the Greater Kailash assembly constituency — when Kejriwal was taking part in the foot march while campaigning for the Delhi state polls. The AAP chief was shaking hands of those assembled when the accused.
Jha was immediately surrounded by police personnel and was taken to the Malviya Nagar police station, where he was later arrested, officers said..
“At 5.50pm, Arvind Kejriwal was shaking hands with his followers when a man named Ashok Jha tried to throw water on Kejriwal. He was immediately caught as police staff were nearby. The attempt was foiled and sub-inspector Sandeep from Malviya Nagar police station nabbed that person,” said deputy commissioner of police (south) Ankit Chauhan.
Video footage of the incident showed a man, who was near Kejriwal’s security cordon along with AAP supporters and police personnel, getting close to the former CM and purportedly throwing some liquid on him. The security personnel acted quickly and immediately overpowered the man.
The AAP chief later continued his foot march to its conclusion.
Police said that the AAP did not take permission for the foot march, but nevertheless, the force made proper arrangements for the event.
After the incident, Greater Kailash legislator and senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj triggered a row, alleging that a “BJP worker” threw “spirit” at Kejriwal to “burn him alive”.
“During the padyatra, one man threw spirit on him. We smelt it. An attempt was made to burn him alive. The person held spirit in one hand and carried a matchbox in the other… The person managed to throw spirit but could not light the fire,” he alleged.
The AAP also claimed that the BJP was responsible for the “attack”.
Leading the charge was Kejriwal, who posted on X, “[Union home minister] Amit Shah should focus on curbing rising crime in Delhi. He won’t achieve anything by silencing me. Will crime in Delhi reduce if you stop me? Will open shootouts in Delhi come to an end? Will women in Delhi become safe? Will the traders of Delhi feel secure?”
Chief minister Atishi said, “Today, a BJP worker attacked Arvind Kejriwal ji. The BJP is feeling very nervous about losing the Delhi elections for the third time. The Delhi people will take revenge for such cheap acts. Last time they got eight seats, this time they will get zero seats.”
The BJP dismissed the AAP’s claims, and insisted that the liquid thrown at Kejriwal was water.
“The Delhi BJP condemns all forms of violent protests. However, Arvind Kejriwal is now desperate and will create some new or old spectacle like the slap incident [in May 2019]… Elections are held across India, and leaders with all kinds of security, whether good or bad, go out for campaigning, but bizarre incidents only seem to happen with Arvind Kejriwal in every assembly election. People in Delhi are asking, why does all this happen only with Arvind Kejriwal?” said Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said: “The person who threw water is none other than one of the 10,000 bus marshals who lost their jobs due to Arvind Kejriwal’s signature. Arvind Kejriwal should stop using his old tactic of gathering false sympathy from the people of Delhi, as they have been watching this drama for the past 10 years. Arvind Kejriwal should not only apologize to the bus marshal who was detained, but to all the 10,000 bus marshals who have been made unemployed by him.”