AAP, BJP trade barbs as Kejriwal joins hands with tribal party in Gujarat

With AAP supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announcing an alliance with Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) ahead of Assembly polls in the state, the war of words between AAP and the ruling BJP intensified on Sunday.

Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil in a tweet termed Kejriwal as a "threat to country's security for giving responsibility to people supporting Khalistan in the party and believing that demand of Khalistan is a constitutional right."

Kejriwal retaliated by invoking Paatil's Maharashtra origin and questioned why "BJP didn't get a Gujarati as party's president. Kejriwal said on Twitter tagging Paatil, "Maharashtra's C R Paatil is Gujarat BJP president. Didn't BJP get a single Gujarati to appoint its president? People say that he is not just the president but runs the Gujarat government. He is the real CM. This is a gross insult to the people of Gujarat..."

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Earlier in the day, Kejriwal announced the alliance with tribal leader Chhotubhai Vasava's BTP at Chanderiya village in Bharuch district, south Gujarat. Addressing a gathering on the occasion, the Delhi CM urged the people of Gujarat to "break the arrogance of the BJP" by choosing AAP in the upcoming election. On his second visit to Gujarat in a month, Kejriwal told the gathering that BJP is likely to "dissolve the assembly in a week or ten days and declare elections." He claimed that the ruling party was "afraid" of AAP.

Mocking the BJP over the condition of schools and hospitals and repeated paper leaks, Kejriwal said, "Gujarat BJP has created a unique world record in paper leaks of recruitment exams. They have broken world records". Claiming that his government in Delhi has changed the face of government schools, he said, "Education is in very bad condition in the state. BJP has been in power for 27 years but in the name of merging, it has shut 6000 government-run schools." He claimed that AAP can bring changes.

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