The political firestorm in the wake of rape of two minors in the national capital intensified on Sunday with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal stepping up attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he will not let him sleep “peacefully” if “jungle raj prevails”.
After a meeting with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, Kejriwal lambasted the Centre and Delhi Police, asserting that he will not remain silent on the issue of women’s security even as investigators claimed to have cracked the case of rape of a two-and-half year old child with arrest of two juveniles.
We will not allow the Prime Minister to sleep peacefully if women in Delhi do not get proper safety and the present trend of rapes continues. That is guaranteed.
— Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister, Delhi
Claiming that “jungle raj” was prevailing in the capital, Kejriwal urged Modi not to remain “stubborn” and hand over law and order control to city government for at least one year, a demand he had made on Saturday as well.
The Prime Minister must understand that I am not (previous Chief Minister) Sheila Dikshit. I will not remain silent.
— Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister, Delhi
Dikshit had on Saturday accused Kejriwal of indulging in blame game.
Sources said Delhi Government was contemplating approaching the Supreme Court “to fix accountability” of the Delhi Police.
These type of remarks should not be given much importance as they are made keeping political positioning in mind. There is no jungle raj in Delhi.
— BS Bassi, Delhi Police Commissioner
In the meeting with Jung, Kejriwal submitted figures of crime against women in the last four years and cases of missing children and requested him to take urgent measures to improve the law and order situation.
Kejriwal has called a cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss the law and order situation.
A two-and-half-year-old girl and another five-year-old were brutally raped in the capital on Friday, barely a week after a sexual assault of a minor, triggering widespread outrage and a political slugfest.
We met the L-G along with last four years’ record on crime cases. Around 31,000 cases of crime against women were recorded. Out of these, chargesheets were filed in only 13,000 cases. In 18,000 cases, there was no charge sheet. Only 146 people were punished overall. So you can see how safe our women are.
— Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister, Delhi
BJP attacked Kejriwal over his jungle raj comments, saying his outburst on the city’s security scenario was a mere “political skulduggery”.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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