Anil Kumar Sharma was taken away by police after attacking Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi secretariat.
Highlights
- The man made it to the Delhi Secretariat using a pass
- He is an employee at a Gurgaon-based company
- "I came to give a reply to Kejriwal. He betrayed a patriot," the man said
A daring attack complete, the 40-year-old man who tried to smear chilli powder on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's face, was not done yet. While being taken out by cops, he shouted his message for journalists: "Arvind Kejriwal is a gaddar (traitor), BJP is a sachchi deshbhakt party". He also told the police that he too was a "sachcha deshbhakt (true patriot)".
Anil Kumar Sharma made it to the Delhi Secretariat, the chief minister's office, using a pass. When Mr Kejriwal was breaking for lunch, the man showed up outside his chamber on the third floor, handed him a letter, bent down to touch his feet, and then suddenly went for his face to smear chilli powder that he had brought in his pocket.
Mr Kejriwal's spectacles broke but his eyes seemed to have been spared any damage, officials said.
An employee at a Gurgaon-based company, Mr Sharma told the cops on camera, "Woh mera target hai. Jitni meri koshish thi, woh meine ki. Mein sacha deshbhakt hun (I am a patriot)."
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief has been deceiving the citizens for the last nine years, the Raja Garden resident told the police in a video accessed by NDTV. The cops can be heard laughing in the background.
"I came to give a reply to Kejriwal. I wanted to tell him that he has betrayed a deshbhakt. And deshbhakts can never be defeated," he said when he was being taken to the police station.
Calling it a dangerous attack, the AAP alleged the BJP had sent out word that whoever targeted the chief minister or his party would be protected. "We will not be scared away by the thugs sent by the BJP," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.
The BJP's Delhi unit, however, condemned the incident. "This should not be tolerated or justified. The matter should be investigated," Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said.
Former AAP leader Yogendra Yadav, who had a public falling out with Mr Kejriwal, spoke out against the attack. "Sad and shocked to hear about this attack. Relieved that the CM is safe and unhurt. Everyone must condemn this. Period. Blame game can wait, please. In any case, blaming the victim shows moral degradation," he tweeted.
"Attack on Arvind is cowardly and dangerous. Delhi police has lot to answer. This is a serious security breach. Politics of hate and venom had killed Bapu. Hate politics has to stop. India needs healthy democracy not violence," another former AAP leader Ashutosh said.
Mr Kejriwal, 50, has in the past been attacked with ink, slippers and slapped while campaigning for elections.
The Delhi Police has been accused of being lax in providing him security and the AAP alleged that this was the third attempt to harm him in less than a month.
The AAP alleged that water bottles were thrown at Mr Kejriwal at the inauguration ceremony of Signature Bridge earlier this month.
"Around the time of Dussehra, an unidentified man had barged into Mr Kejriwal's residence and tried to harm the chief minister," AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said.