JOIN US The autorickshaw driver who slapped AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday gave an apology to him. He said he had committed a “big mistake”.
Former Delhi chief minister Kejriwal, who has repeatedly refused to take police protection, suffered a swollen eye after being slapped by the autorickshaw driver during a roadshow in North-West Delhi on Tuesday.
“I should have never done what I did. He is god to me. I did it because he left the government after a few days,” the attacker said, identified by his first name Lalli, referring to Kejriwal’s resignation as the chief minister in February after 49 days in power over the Jan Lokpal Bill.
A day before the city goes to the polls, Kejriwal reached out to his attacker. And as journalists watched on, the 38-year-old autorickshaw driver asked for forgiveness from Kejriwal and his colleague Manish Sisodia. In a show of regret, Lalli even bent to touch their feet. After meeting him, Kejriwal said that he has “forgiven” him.
Lalli had made several unsuccessful attempts to meet Kejriwal. He said he even tried to meet him during the Janata Durbar, when the AAP ran the government.Kejriwal and Sisodia were accompanied by AAP’s Lok Sabha candidate in the area, Rakhi Birla.
Later in the day, Kejriwal Police Commissioner B S Bassi and asked him to track down the mastermind behind the recent attacks on him.
Speaking about his meeting with the police chief, Kejriwal said, “I asked him what their probe has revealed so far. The commissioner said they have recorded statements of the attackers. I told them not to harass them (the attackers) and track the masterminds who incited such attacks for vested interests.”
Kejriwal said the Police Commissioner has decided to monitor the investigation himself and give him an update within two to three days. He also said the policemen deployed for his security can’t be held responsible for the attacks on him.
BJP to probe ‘Kejriwal’s bluff’
Chairman of Delhi BJP Lok Sabha campaign committee Vijay Kumar Malhotra said that after the elections, an enquiry should be held to find out who hatched the conspiracy of repeated attacks on Kejriwal.
“BJP never adopted such a stunt since the elections in 1952,” he said.
Pointing to Kejriwal’s press statement that he faces “threat to his life”, he said, “If somebody is hatching a conspiracy, then why did he go to his (Lalli’s) house and hugged him?”