Suresh Gadia Lohar, the man accused of slapping Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a roadshow in Moti Nagar said on Thursday, 9 May, that he regretted having slapped the CM. “I don't know what happened to him, I don’t know why I slapped him. I regret it now. I was sitting in jail and wondering what had happened to me that brought me to jail,” he told ANI.
However, when asked if he would apologise to the CM given the opportunity, he replied saying, “Regret is a form of apology.”
He added that he was not affiliated to any political party and that nobody had asked him to do this.
In the video of the incident, Kejriwal is seen waving at the crowd from a jeep when a man wearing a red t-shirt suddenly climbs up and slaps him. Following the incident, Suresh was sent to two-day judicial custody and charged under section 107/51 of the CrPC by the Delhi Police.
According to ANI, Delhi Police has registered a FIR under IPC Section 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt).
DCP (West) Monika Bhardwaj had said Suresh, 33, is a dealer of spare parts in the Kailash Park area, reported PTI.
Speaking to the news agency, Suresh’s brother-in-law, Hansraj Gadia Lohar, said, “He shares everything with me but had never told me that he will do something like this. But he had once told me leaders make tall promises but no one fulfills them. He isn't affiliated to any political party.”
AAP Hits Out
The Aam Aadmi Party said it was another incident of “negligence in the security of CM Kejriwal”, adding that “this opposition-sponsored attack cannot stop the Aam Aadmi in Delhi.”
Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia also slammed the BJP over the incident.
"Do Modi and Amit Shah want Kejriwal to be murdered?" Sisodia tweeted.
He said the BJP could not break the morale of Kejriwal and could not defeat him in elections in five years despite putting in all its might. "Now you want him removed form your way like this. You cowards! This Kejriwal is your end," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj too alleged that the BJP might be behind the attack and asserted the incident would not deter the spirit of the party, reported PTI.
Meanwhile, BJP Delhi president Manoj Tiwari condemned the incident, but said the AAP might have "scripted" the incident.
“We do not support violence and condemn such action by anyone. But I have doubt as to why such incidents happen with Kejriwal in election time only. I doubt this incident may have been scripted by Kejriwal himself.”Manoj Tiwari, as quoted by PTI
Kejriwal was holding the roadshow in favour of Brijesh Goyal, who is contesting from the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat, when the incident took place.
This is the second time Kejriwal has been slapped in a public rally. Earlier, he was also attacked with ink and spices.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)
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