New Delhi:
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, who is seeking re-election from Kalkaji in next month’s Assembly elections, on Sunday hit out at her rival BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri for his alleged remarks on her family made last week.
In an interview with PTI Videos, Atishi also claimed that her crowd-funding initiative launched on Sunday morning generated Rs 17 lakh in donations within just 10 hours.
Atishi, who defeated BJP’s Dharambir Singh in 2020, said she will proceed to file her nomination for the February 5 polls at the district magistrate’s office after praying at the Kalkaji temple and at a gurdwara.
On her BJP rival’s recent remarks, Atishi said, “Bidhuri has shown his character. Within 24 hours of getting a ticket, he made an indecent comment on Priyanka Gandhi. In the next 24 hours, he abused me and my family from Prime Minister Modi’s stage at a rally.” At a ‘Parivaratan’ rally of the BJP in Rohini last week, Bidhuri targeted Atishi for dropping her surname and went on to say that she “changed her father”.
“Not a single BJP leader has said that Bidhuri was wrong, or asked him to apologise to Pryanka Gandhi or me (for his remarks),” Atishi said.
“This means the BJP supports Bidhuri’s indecent language and the abuses he hurled at women. Had they not, they would have said he was wrong and asked him to apologise to Priayanka Gandhi and me. But they did not do so,” she added.
Before targeting Atishi, Bidhuri had stoked a controversy by claiming that he would make roads which are like Congress leader “Priyanka Gandhi’s cheeks” in his constituency, a comment for which he later expressed regret.
Atishi, who launched her crowd-funding campaign to contest the polls on Sunday, called the initiative an “example of honesty”.
“I need Rs 40 lakh to contest the polls which is .0005 per cent of the budget of our government. AAP is a party that never earned even a single penny dishonestly and that is why we still seek donations from the people to fight the elections,” she said.
The campaign launched at 10 am raised Rs 17 lakh by 8 pm in the form of small donations worth Rs 100 and similar amounts, which show the donors were commoners wishing to support AAP, she claimed.
“I hope the target will be met in coming days,” she said.
Amid BJP’s claims that AAP was helping illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas staying in Delhi to become voters to use them as vote banks, Atishi hit back by questioning the security on the borders under the BJP-led Central government.
“Amit Shah should tell from where these Bangladeshis and Rohingyas came. He is responsible for border security and stopping infiltration through the India-Bangladesh borders,” she said.
“How did the Rohingyas reach Delhi? What does it speak of the law and order and security arrangements if they managed to reach Delhi after crossing the borders and passing through many states. If Rohingyas have reached Delhi, only the BJP is responsible for it,” Atishi said.
Talking about her re-election bid from Kalkaji, she said the constituency was her “Karmbhumi” for the last five years where people considered her as their own “daughter and sister”.
Expressing hopes of getting the wholehearted support of the voters this time as well, Atishi said she developed the constituency by treating its residents like her own family.
The 70-member Delhi Assembly will go to polls on February 5. The results will be out on February 8.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
