Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) leaders in Gujarat engaged in a heated political slugfest on social media platforms on Sunday.
In Bharuch to address a rally of tribal communities and seal an alliance with Chhotubhai Vasava’s Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), Mr. Kejriwal called the State BJP president C.R. Paatil a “non-Gujarati” and “super CM of Gujarat”.
“@CRPaatil of Maharashtra is the president of Gujarat BJP. Didn’t the BJP get a single Gujarati for its president? People say he is not only the president, he runs the Gujarat government. He is the real Chief Minister. This is a gross insult to the people of Gujarat. BJP people, give Gujarat a Gujarati president,” Mr. Kejriwal tweeted and said in his address, taking on the powerful State president of the ruling party.
Retorting to Mr. Kejriwal’s “non-Gujarati” jibe directed at him, Mr. Paatil called the Delhi CM a “threat to national security”.
“Giving responsibility in his party to people with Khalistani mentality and believing that making a demand for Khalistan is a constitutional right, @ArvindKejriwal is a threat to the security of the country,” Mr. Paatil tweeted in Gujarati.
Mr. Paatil also said that the AAP and Mr. Kejriwal promote leaders with a “Khalistani mentality”. Leaders of both parties exchanged barbs on Twitter through the day.
BJP leaders slammed Mr. Kejriwal for “uttering nonsense” and being an “expert liar with connections to Khalistanis and Naxalites” while AAP leaders said Mr. Paatil was a “former bootlegger” and a “threat” to Gujarat.
The verbal clash between the two parties and their leaders occurred on the day Gujarat and Maharashtra celebrated their foundation day.
Addressing a rally of tribals in Bharuch, Mr. Kejriwal also announced that the AAP would fight the Assembly polls jointly with the BTP in Gujarat. Mr. Chhotubhai Vasava, a veteran tribal leader, and his son Mahesh Vasava, are both legislators from Jhagadia and Dediapada Assembly seats, respectively.
Mr. Kejriwal slammed both the BJP and the Congress, calling them two sides of the same coin. “The BJP and the Congress stand with the rich. They are making the rich richer in Gujarat, I am here to tell you, Chhotubhai and Maheshbhai, that Kejriwal and AAP, we stand with you, we stand with the poor. Give us a chance, we will remove your poverty, educate your children, make hospitals for you and give you a job,” Mr. Kejriwal said, addressing the rally.
The Delhi CM also invited Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to visit schools and hospitals in Delhi, and not criticise the AAP government there “just for political purposes”. According to him, despite being in power in Gujarat for 27 years, the BJP had failed to improve conditions in government schools or improve the health sector in the State. He also reiterated his claim that the BJP was scared of the AAP’s entry in Gujarat and therefore considering advancing the Assembly polls, which are scheduled to be held in December 2022.
