Opposition BJP took to streets on Thursday to seek speedy action against AAP leader Somnath Bharti in a domestic violence complaint by his wife and mounted pressure on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by accusing him of attempts to shield his former law minister.
The women wing of the BJP protested against Bharti outside his house in Malviya Nagar and some health workers agitating outside Kejriwal’s residence in north Delhi laid siege to Bharti’s car when he came there to meet the chief minister in the morning.
The former law minister was also shown black flags by protesters.
On Wednesday, Bharti’s wife Lipika lodged a complaint of domestic violence, mental torture, dowry and forgery against him with the Delhi Commission for Women which has asked the former law minister to reply to the allegations by June 26 – the day when the Assembly session will be in progress.
In the afternoon, the BJP workers holding placards gathered near Bharti’s home and staged a march. His office staff said he was busy and would not be available for the entire day.
Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay accused the ruling AAP of behaving like anarchists and said: “They are not at all interested in development of Delhi.”
Referring to the complaint against Bharti, Upadhyay said: “If a woman is unsafe in the home of an AAP leader and former minister, how can the government offer security to millions of women in the city?”
“We want him to resign,” he said, warning Kejriwal not to side with wrongdoers and send a wrong message to people of Delhi.
Lipika accused Bharti of cheating her by misrepresenting facts about his professional status before the marriage.
Bharti who was a law minister during AAP’s first stint of their 49-day government, denied the allegations leveled against him and called them “baseless”.
The complaint against Bharti by his wife has added to the embarrassment of the Aam Aadmi Party, which is already facing the heat over the fake degree case involving former Delhi law minister Jitender Tomar, who is currently in police custody.
The BJP also slammed the AAP for shielding people suspected of indulging in forgery.
The party demanded that all the AAP legislators suspected of using forged educational documents in the election should be sacked from the Assembly.
The party has sought action against Tomar and two other legislators - Surendra Kumar (Delhi Cantonment) and Vishesh Ravi (Karol Bagh) of alleged forgery.
Upadhyay has said Delhi Police should suo motu act on the information shared by from former AAP MLA Rajesh Garg that over 12 of the present AAP MLAs have fake educational degrees.
