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You are my only hope, says man before throwing chilli powder at Arvind Kejriwal

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
Nov 20, 2018 10:21 PM IST

This is not the first time that Arvind Kejriwal has been attacked in similar fashion. He has earlier had ink, shoes, slippers and fists thrown at him in the past.

A man threw chilli powder at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal as he was leaving his offices at the Delhi Secretariat for lunch between 2.10 and 2.15 pm. The attacker has been identified as Anil Kumar Sharma.

Sharma, a Naraina resident, was waiting for the AAP convenor, outside his office at the Delhi secretariat. When Kejriwal stepped out, Sharma walked up to him and said, “Aap hi se umeed hai,” and tried to touch his feet

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Sharma had a letter in one hand and chilli powder in the other. He had packed the chilli powder was in a gutka packet.

Kejriwal stopped Sharma from touching his feet, and while getting up Sharma threw chilli powder at Kejriwal’s face.

Sharma has been taken into custody.

Police detain Anil Kumar, who allegedly threw chilli powder at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, at Delhi Secretariat in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)

Criticising the attack, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha said, “Today just the CM’s glasses fell to the floor and broke, it is still an unacceptable security lapse nonetheless. Imagine if the attacker were to be wielding a more dangerous weapon. Who could have prevented a tragedy from occurring?”

Referring to the attack, the Aam Aadmi Party tweeted, “Serious security lapses from Delhi Police. Even the Chief Minister is not safe in Delhi.”

This is not the first time that Kejriwal has been attacked in similar fashion. He has earlier had ink, shoes, slippers and fists thrown at him in the past.

Soon after the attack on Kejriwal, AAP’s national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj and Raghav Chadha addressed a press conference and condemned the attack on the Delhi chief minister and accused the BJP of orchestrating these attacks.

“How can any random person walk into the Secretariat and attack the Chief Minister. Arvind Kejriwal has faced many such attacks on regular basis. This is a serious security lapse. I believe that the attacker would have ties with BJP. The attack is directly connected to the BJP which is giving full protection to the criminals. Rogue elements who are attacking the Delhi chief minister are backed by the BJP. They wanted to attack the Chief Minister even on the inauguration of Signature. It is very clear that the BJP is not able to digest the Aam Aadmi Party and they are tryign to intimidate us with such tactics,” said Bharadwaj.

Bhardwaj added, “BJP’s Central government has created an atmosphere where anti-social elements are being instigated and promoted to attack CM Kejriwal. The attackers know they will get protection.”

Raghav Chadha, who claimed to have witnessed the incident, said, “We saw a person walk up to the CM’s chamber with something in his hand. No effort was made to stop him. I saw the whole thing happen and it is extremely shameful how such a thing can happen in the CM’s office.” Chadha also said that he would give his statemnet if the police will conduct an independent inquiry into the incident.

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