Arvind Kejriwal slapped during roadshow in Delhi

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday was slapped by a young man during an election roadshow in the national capital with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) pointing fingers at BJP and asking whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah wanted its leader to get killed.

The attacker, who was later identified as Suresh (33), in a maroon colour T-shirt climbed onto the vehicle and slapped the AAP chief when the road show just started in Moti Nagar area of New Delhi constituency.

The incident happened within a minute Kejriwal climbed the campaign vehicle for the roadshow. He was shaking hands with people and waving at them when the attacker climbed the vehicle and slapped him. Kejriwal lost his balance but was supported by his security personnel.

Suresh, who deals in spare parts in Kailash Park area, was pulled off the vehicle and was manhandled by supporters before he was handed over to police. Investigators said an investigation into the matter is underway.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted immediately after the incident, "do Modi and Amit Shah now want Kejriwal to be killed? You cannot break his morale using all your power in the last five years, do you think you can remove him from your way through such attacks. This Kejriwal is your death knell."

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh tweeted, "why is Kejriwal's security breached repeatedly, Modi government? Are you waiting for some big attack on Kejriwal? Or is there any big conspiracy?"

BJP Delhi president Manoj Tiwari condemned the incident but alleged that AAP might have "scripted" the incident. "We do not support violence and condemn such action by anyone. But I have doubt as to why such incidents happen with Kejriwal in election time only. I doubt this incident may have been scripted by Kejriwal himself," Tiwari claimed.

This is not the first time that he was attacked. Ink was thrown at him on earlier occasions while he was out on road shows or other meetings.

Last November, a man had thrown chilli powder at him just outside his office in Delhi Secretariat. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had then accused the BJP of "attempting to kill" him and even suggesting its top leadership, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, may have knowledge about the conspiracy.

Sisodia had then said that police had not filed chargesheets in four cases of attacks on Kejriwal till then.

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