People angry over Maliwal incident, AAP will lose polls

The BJP on Friday slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the Swati Maliwal assault case and claimed that his AAP will suffer such a defeat in the Lok Sabha polls here that deposits of its candidates will be forfeited.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will lose at the hustings as people are angry over the incident, the BJP claimed, referring to the alleged assault on Maliwal by Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar at the CM’s residence on May 13. Party national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia alleged that the chief minister is trying his best to save Kumar. It was at the Kejriwal’s behest that his aide assaulted Maliwal, Bhatia claimed. Kumar was arrested after an FIR was registered at the Civil Lines police station on a complaint from Maliwal, in which she claimed that he hit her with “full force again and again” and she was “kicked and slapped seven-to-eight times”. “Maliwal has said that Kumar and others slapped her seven-to-eight times in the presence of Arvind Kejriwal at his residence and they also used indecent language against her. It is bizarre that Kejriwal has maintained silence over the incident. What a shameless and cheap person he is,” Bhatia said.

Kejriwal in an interview to PTI on Wednesday said justice be served with a fair investigation into Maliwal assault case as there are two versions of it. The BJP spokesperson alleged that to hide the truth about Kejriwal’s involvement in the assault, footage from CCTV cameras at the CM’s residence had been edited and Kumar’s mobile-phone formatted. “He (Kejriwal) should not underestimate the power of people. There is anger among people. When polling is held tomorrow, people will inflict such damage to his party’s prospect with their votes that even its deposits will be forfeited,” Bhatia said.