File photo of AAP leader Kumar Vishwas
The BJP today complained to the Election Commission against AAP leader Kumar Vishwas for remarks against their chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi which the BJP claims were sexist.
A BJP delegation led by Nirmala Sitharaman filed the complaint with Election Commission. The BJP said this is a violation of model code of conduct and asked the Election Commission for action on their earlier complaints too.
"We all went to file the complaint against him. The senior leader of AAP are making such derogatory remarks in presence of Arvind Kejriwal. We have asked to action against Kumar Vishwas and Arvind Kejriwal. They will surely take action soon. The BJP has women leaders and it is very derogatory to make such remarks," said BJP leader Shazia Ilmi who was part of the delegation.
Ms Bedi, meanwhile, tweeted to say that she has filed a police complaint against Mr Vishwas. "A police complaint has been lodged against Kumar Vishwas' sexist comments at a recent rally in the presence of their leadership," she said in the tweet.
The comments were reportedly made during a rally in which AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal were also present. The AAP leader, however, denied he made any such comments.
"I'm ready to quit politics if it is proved that I made such comments. I respect Ms Bedi a lot, I always address her as Kiran didi, how can I make such a comment? The clip is available on the Internet, you can listen to it by yourself. The BJP has no Delhi-centric issues to fight these elections so they are resorting to such tactics," he told NDTV.
A delegation of the Aam Aadmi Party is also scheduled to meet the Election Commission this afternoon.
Both the BJP and AAP have drawn aggressive plans for Delhi Assembly election which is just a week away. The BJP has roped in 120 lawmakers, including Union ministers, from 13 states to take on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.
The party expects to hold 250 public meetings in the coming week, four of them to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will also pose five questions to Arvind Kejriwal every day.
Mr Vishwas is a poet and stage artist who has been a prominent member of the Aam Aadmi Party since it was launched by Arvind Kejriwal in 2012. He was handpicked by Mr Kejriwal to take on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in the latter's family bastion Amethi.
Mr Vishwas had won so few votes that he lost his deposit.