New Delhi [India], August 20 : BJP leaders on Wednesday strongly condemned the attack on Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta during a Jan Sunvai, calling it a "cowardly" act and alleging a larger conspiracy by the Opposition to derail her public outreach program.
BJP MLA Satish Upadhyay said that people will not forgive such a "mindset."
"The ill intent and hatred with which the Delhi CM was attacked during Jan Sunvai today is very cowardly. People of Delhi will never forgive such a mindset. Delhi CM is serving the people day and night. She will neither be scared by such attacks nor cower down. She will continue serving Delhi. Such people should never be forgiven," Upadhyay said in a video message.
Former BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri alleged a "conspiracy" to derail the CM's outreach program and claimed that the probe will reveal that the accused of the incident will be an "activist" belonging to Congress or AAP.
"This was done as per a conspiracy to derail Rekha ji from meeting the public. The PM has asked all public representatives to connect with the public. Due to this, there is frustration in the Opposition. I am 100 per cent certain the probe will reveal that he (the accused) was an activist belonging to Congress, Aam Aadmi Party or communist parties...This incident is condemnable," Bidhuri told ANI.
BJP MP Rekha Sharma termed the incident an attempt to "scare and threaten" the CM. "This is a very serious issue. It is shocking that someone attacked a CM when she was at Jan Sunvai...It can be the action of a man whose party/organisation is not happy with the way the CM is working and meeting people. Maybe they wanted to scare and threaten the CM. Rekha Gupta will not be scared and sit at home...," she said.
Delhi Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said that the accused had conducted a recce of Gupta's Shalimar Bagh residence for 24 hours before the attack. "He spent the night in the nearby Civil Lines area, and when he came this morning, he did not have any papers in his hand. There was no such issue, and he attacked as soon as he met her," he told reporters.
Another Delhi Minister, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, said the CM was "stable" and that the accused had also shot videos of her residence. "The CM is stable. The attacker was doing a recce for the last 24 hours. He had been to Rekha Gupta's Shalimar Bagh residence, too. He had shot videos there as well...It is very clear that he had come with the intent to attack; he had no Jan Sunvai papers in his hand. Videos from yesterday were found on his phone. His intent to attack is clear...Jan Sunvai will continue...Works for Delhi will go on," he said.
Delhi Police identified the accused as Rajesh Khimji, a resident of Gujarat's Rajkot. His identity and address are being verified, police said.