New Delhi [India], January 10 : After BJP workers and supporters were detained by the police for organising the 'Purvanchal Samman March' outside the residence of AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari assisted their release on Friday out of Mandir Marg Police Station. Reacting to Kejriwal's recent remarks about "fake voters" from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, he said that the agitation would be taken to every street and house in Delhi.
He accused Kejriwal of disrespecting the people from UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Purvanchal.
Manoj Tiwari said, "If Sanjay Singh has an iota of shame left, he needs to realise that his leader is calling him double-faced. Is Sanjay Singh double-faced? Arvind Kejriwal is calling the people of Purvanchal 'dogala'. Are AAP leaders from Purvanchal double-faced? They need to give an answer to Arvind Kejriwal. I don't need to give any clarifications on this. Those who have been called 'dogala' they will respond in the polls."
AAP leader Sanjay Singh belongs from Sultanpur which is in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh.
He further said that he would take this agitation to each and every street and house of Delhi.
"Arvind Kejriwal is calling these people 'dogala'. Are we 'dogala' if we come from UP or Bihar? We will take this agitation to each and every street and house in Delhi. We are hard-working people. We feel proud to sit in autorickshaws because the drivers are hardworking people whom Arvind Kejriwal calls 'dogala'".
Earlier BJP workers held 'Purvanchal Samman March' from Ashoka Road to AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal's residence here on Friday to protest against the latter's alleged remarks against the people of Purvanchal. Delhi Police used water cannon to disperse the protesters when they tried to cross the barricades put up near Kejriwal's residence at Feroze Shah Road. The Police also detained the BJP workers.
"Arvind Kejriwal and AAP have a history of disrespecting the people from UP, Bihar, Jharkhand...How did you (Arvind Kejriwal) dare to call people from UP, Bihar, Jharkhand as fake...The promises of Arvind Kejriwal and AAP are fake...The people of Purvanchal will take revenge on 5th February," BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said at a press conference here on Friday.
The BJP MP alleged that Kejriwal recently referred to people from UP and Bihar as 'farzi' and accused them of "getting fake voter ID cards made" in Delhi.
Retorting this statement, AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj told ANI, "I want to ask the Purvanchali leaders of Delhi, where was Manoj Tiwari when JP Nadda called Purvanchalis as infiltrators. Where was the Purvanchal Morcha?"
"Where was Manoj Tiwari when a 'chhath ghat' was destroyed in my constituency? We organised a press conference today to tell that the votes of people of Purvanchal are being cut in Delhi, because they vote for AAP," he added.
Earlier Janta Dal (United) working President Sanjay Kumar Jha accused Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal of "hating" the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Jha strongly criticised Kejriwal's recent remarks about "fake voters" from these states and demanded an immediate apology from Kejriwal for his comments.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Jha expressed his anger, asking, "Why do you hate people from Bihar and UP so much, @ArvindKejriwal ji? You should not forget that Delhi is not your property, it is the capital of the country and belongs to all the countrymen. The people of Bihar and UP have achieved a position not only in Delhi but across the world on the basis of their hard work and talent."
The dispute arose after an AAP delegation led by Arvind Kejriwal met the Election Commission to raise concerns about alleged voter irregularities in the New Delhi Legislative Assembly.
The party highlighted a significant surge in voter registrations and deletions on the seat while alleging a "voter fraud" taking place at a large scale.
Former Delhi CM Kejriwal said that a total of 5,500 votes were registered in 22 days. He also claimed that out of 89 people who had applied for deletion of 5500 names from the voter list, 18 denied submitting the request.
"The Chief Election Commissioner is out, but we met with the other two commissioners. One of the issues we raised was that in the New Delhi Legislative Assembly, between December 15 and January 7, a total of 5,500 votes were registered in 22 days. The total votes in this assembly are 1,00,000. This means that 5.5 per cent of the votes were registered in the last 22 days, which clearly indicates some irregularities. There are issues with these applications," Kejriwal told reporters after meeting the Election Commissioners, here on Thursday.