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Parvesh Verma, BJP candidate from the New Delhi assembly constituency, said he had complained to the Election Commission that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his cabinet colleagues distributed cash and alcohol to voters in the constituency to influence them in the upcoming Delhi Assembly election.
"I have filed a complaint to the Election Commission and also filed a written complaint to the Delhi Police, that in last one week, thousands of cars of Punjab are roaming around in the New Delhi assembly constituency. Punjab CM, ministers, their MLAs and their party workers are roaming in their private cars that have 'Government of Punjab' stickers pasted on them. They are distributing alcohol, CCTVs and money here," Verma told ANI. He said that the AAP leaders were making false allegations against him for fear of loss in the New Delhi constituency where Kejriwal is AAP's candidate. "They know that they are losing the elections hence they are making false statements against me. I have filed a Rs.100 crore defamation case against Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann. I will use the money for the people of New Delhi assembly," he said. The AAP hit back at Verma and accused Verma of "insulting" Punjabis. Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday morningsaid that Delhi was home to lakhs of Punjabis whose ancestors made countless sacrifices for the country. "There are lakhs of Punjabis living in Delhi whose families and ancestors have made countless sacrifices for the country. Lakhs of Punjabi refugees also live in Delhi who left everything behind during the difficult times of partition and settled in Delhi. Their families have also suffered numerous hardships," Kejriwal posted on X. Demanding an apology from the BJP, he said that the statement made by the BJP leaders was an insult to the martyrdom and sacrifices of the Punjabi people. Delhi has been nurtured by Punjabi and calling them a threat to the country was an insult to lakhs who live here, Kejriwal added. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said that every Punjabi is feeling "extremely pained" and it is not right to question the patriotism of Punjab's people in this way. Delhi will go to the polls on February 5 and the counting of votes will take place on February 8. A three-way contest is on the cards in Delhi between the ruling AAP, BJP, and Congress. Congress, which was in power for 15 consecutive years in Delhi, has suffered setbacks in the last two assembly elections and has failed to win any seat. AAP dominated the 2020 assembly elections by winning 62 out of 70 seats while the BJP got eight seats. (ANI)
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