BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj on Monday launched an attack on the AAP, questioning whether Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife, Sunita Kejriwal, was now officially holding the post, news agency PTI reported. Swaraj, also a Delhi BJP secretary and party candidate from the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat, slammed the opposition INDIA bloc, labeling its Ramlila maidan rally on Sunday as a "flop show" designed to "mislead" people on corruption issues.
In response, AAP chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar retaliated, stating that the BJP had been "utterly shaken" by the "overwhelming public support" for Kejriwal at the rally.
Speaking at a press conference, Swaraj asked the Aam Aadmi Party to clarify "whether Sunita Kejriwal is now officially the chief minister because she is using the Delhi chief minister's chair to give the media messages".
The BJP leader referred to Sunita Kejriwal conducting digital briefings with a backdrop similar to that of Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal before his arrest on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged liquor scam-linked money laundering case.
She also questioned why AAP leaders are being denied bail by the courts in the "liquor scam" case, highlighting that former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh have been behind bars for several months.
Swaraj further pressed the AAP to explain why Kejriwal skipped nine summonses from the ED and did not appear before the agency for questioning until elections were announced, insinuating that he aimed to play the "victim card" after his arrest.
Additionally, she claimed that at the INDIA bloc's Ramlila ground rally on Sunday, most chairs were empty during Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's speech, suggesting a lack of public support for the event.
Bansuri Swaraj criticised the INDIA bloc members, including Trinamool Congress, AAP, and the Left parties, for not allocating a single seat to the Congress in the states they rule. She accused them of "deceiving" the Congress by not including them in their electoral alliances.
In response, AAP's Priyanka Kakkar asserted that the INDIA bloc remains "resolutely united" against what they perceive as "rampant dictatorship" by the BJP, which they claim has caused significant unrest.
"Together, we exposed the BJP's operation of an 'Extortion Department' and their practice of whitewashing corrupt leaders once they join the party," Kakkar charged.
AAP's Priyanka Kakkar slammed Bansuri Swaraj, asserting what she sees as irony in Swaraj lecturing about corruption while previously defending what Kakkar considers "the most corrupt" individuals in the country during her career as a lawyer.