With just two days to go for the Delhi polls, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday “invited” Union Home Minister Amit for a debate on the burning issues in the state.
His invitation for public debate came as the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) 1 pm deadline to the BJP to announce a chief ministerial candidate for Delhi ended today.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had on Tuesday said that the BJP should name its chief minister face so that he can have a debate with the candidate ahead of February 8 polls.
“Yesterday I had said that BJP should name its CM candidate and I am ready for a debate. They have not named anyone, this means they don’t have anyone to be the CM face. I invite Amit Shah for the debate. I am ready for a debate anywhere on anything with him,” Kejriwal told the media.
“Delhi wants to know why they should vote for BJP,” the Aam Aadmi Party chief added.
He further said Amit Shah wants people to vote for BJP in his name and added that it is the people of Delhi who will decide the CM and not the Home Minister.
Further, referring to the recent firing incidents in Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia Islamia University, the Chief Minister said that whoever instigates violence in Delhi will not be spared no matter what political party the person belongs to.
“If the person belongs to AAP, then he will have to face double punishment,” Kejriwal asserted.
The warning comes a day after the Delhi Police claimed that the accused in the second firing incident in the Shaheen Bagh area, Kapil Gujjar, is a member of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party.
The Crime Branch had also released photographs of Gujjar with AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Atishi Marlena.
Two days after a youth, identified as Rambhakt Gopal, fired a pistol at a group of anti-CAA protesters near Jamia Milia University, Gujjar on February 1 fired two rounds in the air at Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of the protest against the country’s new citizenship law.
However, Gujjar’s family has denied claims by the police that they are associated with AAP.
Earlier in the day, while speaking to news agency ANI, Kejriwal had said that if Kapil has links with AAP, he will be given stringent punishment adding that the BJP was using the Delhi Police for a political stunt before the polls.
On BJP MP Parvesh Verma calling him a “terrorist”, the Chief Minister said he is ‘very hurt”.
“I have never done anything for my family or my children and dedicated myself to the service of the country. 80 per cent of my batchmates from IIT went abroad. I left the Income Tax Commissioner’s job,” an emotional Kejriwal told ANI.
BJP MP Parvesh Verma was the first to use the term for the Delhi Chief Minister on January 25 during a campaign rally.
The term “terrorist” was again reiterated by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, who claimed that “he has the proof of Kejriwal being a terrorist”.
“Kejriwal is making an innocent face and asking if he is a terrorist, you are a terrorist, there is plenty of proof for it. You yourself said you are an anarchist, there is not much of a difference between an anarchist and a terrorist,” Javadekar said.
Kejriwal further told ANI that he has left it to the people of Delhi to decide if he is a “terrorist”.
“If you think I am a terrorist then press ‘Kamal’ button on 8th February. And if you think I have worked for Delhi, the Country and the people then press ‘Jhaadu’ button,” he said.