New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta was on Wednesday allegedly attacked during her weekly ‘Jan Sunvai’ programme at her official residence in national capital’s Civil Lines, claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The attack was conducted by a 41-year-old man, who handed some papers to the chief minister before assaulting her. He also pulled her hair and slapped her. Though Gupta is not injured, the incident has left her in shock. Meanwhile, a team of doctors has also arrived at Gupta’s residence.
The attacker has now been arrested by the Delhi Police, and further investigation is underway. During the investigation, the attacker was identified as Rajeshbhai Khimjibhai Sakariya, who is a resident of Gujarat’s Rajkot.
BJP calls incident a ‘conspiracy’
Meanwhile, BJP’s Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva has strongly condemned the attack on Gupta. Giving details about the incident, Sachdeva said the accused approached Gupta, handed over some papers and suddenly held her hand while trying to pull her towards him. He was immediately caught by the people, Sachdeva said, adding that the chief minister suffered a light blow to her head, but her condition is stable.
“Doctors have examined her. I have met her, she is a strong woman…It seems that she suffered a light blow to her head… The slap or stone-throwing stories are fabricated…Such incidents in politics are condemnable… Jan Sunvai will continue. CM is resting right now, but she has said that she will not cancel her programs,” he said.
Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa also condemned the attack and called it a “conspiracy by rivals”. He said the matter is being investigated by the police and everything will be revealed soon.
Congress, AAP condemn attack
Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav has condemned the attack and called the incident unfortunate. Speaking to news agency ANI, he raised questions over the law and order situation in Delhi, asking if the chief minister is not safe, then how can a common person be safe in the national capital.
“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,” Yadav said.
Condemning the attack, senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former CM Atishi prayed for the safety of Gupta and urged the Delhi Police to take strict action against those involved in assaulting the chief minister. “The attack on Delhi’s Chief Minister Rekha Gupta is highly condemnable. In a democracy, there is a place for disagreement and protest, but there is no place for violence,” she said in an ‘X’ post in Hindi.
CM completely in shock, recall eyewitnesses
Speaking to news agency PTI, an eyewitness said the CM is completely in shock. She said the Gupta was listening to the programme when the incident happened. “We heard noise coming from behind, and by the time we turned around, the police had taken the attacker away,” the eyewitness said.
Another eyewitness said the attack took place between 8.05 am and 8.10 am. He said the accused was looking for an opportunity to attack Gupta and suddenly assaulted her.
Source: India TV
