NEW DELHI: One man has been apprehended for allegedly attacking Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta during a public grievance session at her Civil Lines residence in the national capital, Delhi police.
According to Delhi Police, the accused identified himself as Rajesh Khimji and said that he belonged to Rajkot, Gujarat.
The incident occurred during the weekly Jan Sunvai programme when a man in his mid-30s approached her, handed over a paper, suddenly shouted, slapped her, pulled her hair, and hurled abuses, as per the police.
As per Delhi police sources, a heavy object was hurled at her, causing her to fall to the ground. The Chief Minister is currently under medical observation while senior Delhi Police officials are on the spot.
Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva strongly condemned the attack on CM Rekha Gupta during the weekly Jan Sunvai.
A participant of the program described the incident stating, “”I had come from Uttam Nagar with a complaint over sewer. When I reached the gates, chaos broke out because the CM was slapped. This is wrong…”
Meanwhile, Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav condemned the incident calling it “unfortunate”.
He said, “This is very unfortunate. CM leads the entire Delhi, and I think that the more such incidents are condemned, the less it is. But this incident also exposes women’s safety. If the CM of Delhi is not safe, how can a common man or common woman be safe?”
Anjali, who was present at the spot, said, “This is wrong. Everyone has the right to Jan Sunvai. If an imposter can slap her, this is a big deal…I was there…The person was speaking and he suddenly slapped. Police have taken him away…”
Reportedly, the accused was carrying some court-related documents in his hands at the time of the attack on the Chief Minister.
In a video posted by Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, he “strongly condemned” the incident and alleged that there is a political conspiracy behind it.
He said, “I strongly condemn the attack on the CM during Jan Sunvai. She worries for Delhi day and night. This is a conspiracy by rivals, they can’t tolerate that a CM remains amid the public for hours, that she meets people at her residence. So, there seems to be a political conspiracy behind this. Delhi Police is investigating this. All facts will come out.”
Congress MP KC Venugopal called for investigation and said, “It is the failure of the Home Ministry. It should be investigated properly.”
Congress MP Manickam Tagore said, “Any kind of such things we should verify, and Delhi’s police responsibility is to protect the CM of Delhi. Hope that the Delhi Police does their duty.”
Condemning the attack, Rajya Sabha MP and Rekha Sharma said, “This is a very serious issue. It is shocking that someone attacked a CM when she was at Jan Sunvai…It can be the action of a man whose party/organisation is not happy with the way the CM is working and meeting people. Maybe they wanted to scare and threaten the CM. Rekha Gupta will not be scared and sit at home…”
Agencies
Delhi CM attacked, assaulted at her residence during public event
