BJP asks CM to quit, AAP cries witchhunt

New Delhi: The ruling AAP and the opposition BJP indulged in a war of words on Monday over Delhi police’s chargesheet in the chief secretary assault case, with the latter demanding chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to step down from his post on moral grounds.

It is a “shameful” day in the history of Delhi’s polity as the chief minister and the deputy chief Minister stand accused of “criminal conspiracy” in the case of assault on chief secretary Anshu Prakash, said Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari.

“The chief minister should own moral responsibility for the attack on the chief secretary and hand over his charge to some other party colleague till the court decides the matter,” he demanded.

Cabinet ministers Gopal Rai, Satyendar Jain, Kailash Gahlot, Rajendra Pal Gautam and Imran Hussain in a joint statement termed the chargesheet “bogus” and “politically motivated”.

Stating that the chargesheet is based on “imaginary and false allegations”, the Delhi ministers termed it a “witch-hunt against the Delhi government”.

“It is the latest example of the Central government’s ongoing unprecedented witch-hunt against the Delhi government, elected with highest-ever mandate in India’s electoral history,” the statement said.

AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj attacked the Narendra Modi government alleging that a “conspiracy” was hatched to defame the chief minister, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 11 party MLAs accused in the case.

“A midnight conspiracy to defame the Delhi chief minister, deputy chief minister and 11 MLAs in a false and laughable case, was hatched at the highest level by the Modi government through its politically appointed Lieutenant Governor and the pro-BJP chief secretary,” alleged Mr Bhardwaj.