AAP workers protest in at BJP headquarters in Delhi on Wednesday, March 3.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has told the Election Commission that the protest outside BJP headquarters in Delhi on Wednesday, which triggered clashes between workers of both parties, was not a "planned event."
Replying to a show cause notice by the Election Commission, the AAP today said "the protest was an instant reaction to Arvind Kejriwal's (AAP's chief) detention in Gujarat."
Mr Kejriwal, who is on a four-day tour in Gujarat, says he is conducting on-the-ground checks of the extensive development of the state that has been highlighted by Mr Modi and the BJP in its election campaign. He was stopped on Wednesday at a police station in the western town of Radhanpur where he was asked to explain why he had not got clearances for his large convoy. Once elections are called, the code of conduct applies and any political procession requires police sanction.
His detention triggered street battles in Delhi and Lucknow on Wednesday evening where his party workers gathered at BJP offices to protest.
Chairs and stones were hurled from within the BJP office in Delhi. The party's leaders like Nalin Kohli say workers acted in self-defense. Several AAP leaders were booked for rioting and 14 were arrested. In their report to Election Commission officials, the Delhi Police said that AAP hurled stones at cops who tried to stop them.
Mr Modi, who has been chief minister of Gujarat from 2001, has claimed outstanding development in his state. Mr Kejriwal says, so far, he has seen no evidence of the governance that Mr Modi offers as his main qualification for running the country.