AAP workers gherao BJP headquarters in protest (Photo: @GulabMatiala/Twitter)New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday staged a protest against the BJP over the deferment of municipal polls in the national capital. The AAP has accused the BJP of ‘threatening’ and forcing the State Election Commission to ‘defer’ the elections. The protests began at around 10 am today, with party leaders gathering outside the party office before attempting to gherao the BJP headquarters. Visuals shared by the party on its official Twitter handle show party workers moving to gherao the BJP’s headquarters, with senior leaders including Atishi Marlena and Pankaj Gupta addressing the gathering. The AAP alleges that the BJP had sought to defer the MCD elections due to “fear of defeat”. “Today BJP is losing MCD, so the election has been postponed! Tomorrow, if they are losing the assembly or Lok Sabha elections, then they will also postpone it!” alleged Marlena. Sharing videos online, the party also said that its leaders and workers had been “forcibly stopped by the Delhi Police” who had “scuffled with the workers”. Reportedly the agitators had been unable to gherao the BJP offices as the police had put up barricades on the way.
BJP ने हार के डर से चुनाव आयोग पर दबाव बनाकर MCD चुनाव को टाल दिया है जो पूरी तरह असंवैधानिक है।इस फैसले और BJP… t.co/bcf6Sv7UaT— ANI (@ANI) Mar 13, 2022Earlier on Sunday, AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had claimed that the poll panel had been scheduled to announce the dates for three municipal corporations. He alleged that the delay had been prompted after the SEC was ‘threatened and blackmailed’ by the ruling BJP. The controversy had begun last week after the Delhi State Election Commissioner said that he was ‘not able to announce’ the schedule during a press conference for the same as he had received ‘some communication’ from the central government about half and an hour before the meet with journalists. “Election was supposed to be held this month but they (BJP) threatened and blackmailed the SEC and got the elections deferred. The BJP feels that it can do anything in Delhi and nobody would say anything to them,” AAP leader Durgesh Pathak had said in a video message ahead of the protests. The party, he had added, would prepare its strategy for a ‘big fight’ against the BJP’s ‘dictatorship’.BJP Fears Polls Defeat Against AAP | Announcement Of Delhi MCD Election Dates Deferred | Political News