BJP sees AAP as challenge, it has launched 'Operation Jhaadu' to crush us: Arvind Kejriwal

Addressing party workers and leaders ahead of the AAP's proposed protest march to the BJP headquarters here, Kejriwal said there will be bigger challenges ahead and asked the cadre to be prepared to face them.

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed on Sunday that the ruling BJP has launched 'Operation Jhadu' to "crush" the Aam Aadmi Party that is growing as a "challenge" to the saffron camp across the country.

As leaders, including him marched to the BJP headquarters, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could get them arrested at one go, Kejriwal told party workers they should get ready for "bigger challenges" while reminding them they had overcome obstacles in the past easily.

Kejriwal said that BJP has a three-prong strategy to tackle AAP, which includes arresting its leaders, freezing party accounts and evicting them from their party office.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is worried about the rise of the AAP. The party has risen too fast. They have started 'Operation Jhadu' to crush the party. In the coming times, our leaders will be arrested, our bank accounts will be frozen and we will be brought on the road since our office will also be taken away," he said.

"There will be bigger challenges ahead. Please be ready to face them. Remember one thing, we faced many challenges in the past. We have the blessings of Lord Hanuman and God. We would have not survived these. Walk on the path of truth. We want to work for society," he said.

On Saturday, Kejriwal had announced that they will march to the BJP headquarters so that Modi can send them to jail after his aide Bibhav Kumar was arrested in an assault case filed by party MP Swati Maliwal.

Just before the march started., Kejriwal said they would march peacefully and if the police stopped them, they would sit at the spot and wait for 30 minutes to see if they are arrested.

"If they do not arrest us, it will be their defeat. You can send us all in jail and see for yourself if the party ends or it rises more," he said.

Following his speech, leaders and workers led by Kejriwal marched towards the BJP office but were stopped. After half an hour, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh announced the end of the protest claiming that a scared Prime Minister had not ordered their arrest.

Recalling the period he was lodged in the Tihar Jail, Kejriwal said he read the Bhagavad Gita twice and the Ramayan once.

Earlier in response to the AAP protest, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla had said Kejriwal should break his silence instead of ramping up his "dramebaazi and answer specific questions".