Arvind Kejriwal writes to EC, demands appointment of independent observers

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal has alleged attack on his party workers ahead of the Delhi assembly polls and demanded that the Election Commission appoint independent observers in his New Delhi constituencyIn a letter to the Election Commission Kejriwal has also demanded arrest of BJP workers allegedly involved in such incidents and suspension of police officers concernedIn his letter Kejriwal said I am writing to express my grave concern over the intimidation and harassment being meted out to our grassroot volunteers in the New Delhi Assembly Constituency at the hands of BJP workers and Delhi Police in the runup to election dayNo immediate reaction was available from the BJP and the Delhi Police over Kejriwals claimsIn the letter the former Delhi chief minister also cited some alleged incidents of attack on AAP workers in his New Delhi constituencyYesterday our senior volunteer Chetan Resident of Princess Park Part2 was unlawfully detained and booked under section 126 of BNSS 2023 at Tilak Marg Police Station on the baseless and fictitious grounds that he has previous cases registered against him while there are none He was brazenly charged with actions that he had never committed He was also subjected to severe physical abuse by the Police officials to the point that he fainted and was subsequently rushed to Lady Harding Hospital Later on after a lot of struggle he was produced before the Return Officer SDM concerned and granted bail in a matter in which he was brazenly framed the AAP Chief said in his letterKejriwal also claimed that the Delhi Police are targeting AAP volunteers arbitrarily detaining questioning and harassing them He believes this is a systematic effort to suppress AAPs campaign and discourage volunteers from participating in electionrelated activitiesMoreover what is more disturbing is that even the Delhi Police is targeting our volunteers by arbitrarily detaining questioning and harassing them some are even wrongfully booked under various sections of BNS We are witnessing a systematic effort to suppress our partys grassrootslevel workers through unlawful detentions and threats allegedly at the behest of the BJP to discourage them from participating in electionrelated activities These actions appear to be a deliberate strategy to undermine and suppress our partys campaign he saidGiven the current scenario we fear that on the night before the election and the morning of the election day these intimidation tactics may escalate further to prevent our volunteers from working on polling day thereby disrupting our partys election operations Kejriwal added furtherTo address these concerns Kejriwal demanded the deployment of independent observers to ensure fair elections protection for AAP volunteers from intimidation and harassment accountability for misuse of police powers to prevent arbitrary detentions and harassment and strict action against BJP workers involved in violence to maintain law and orderThese orchestrated attacks on our volunteers are a direct assault on the democratic process and must be addressed immediately to safeguard the integrity of the elections Kejriwal said in his letterAAP MLA Mohinder Goyal was allegedly assaulted during a public rally in Rohini area here on SaturdayThe incident took place when Goyal the Aam Aadmi Party AAP candidate from the Rithala Assembly segment was interacting with the local residents of Pocket H in Sector 11Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Saturday wrote a letter to the Election Commission alleging that the BJP workers assaulted AAP workers and tried to stop them from campaigning in the New Delhi constituencyKejriwal is pitted against BJPs Parvesh Verma and Sandeep Dikshit of the Congress in a triangular contest in the New Delhi constituencyVoting for the 70member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5 Results will be declared after counting of votes on February 8With inputs from Agencies