Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday refuted allegations that he had planned to collaborate with separatists during the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, The Indian Express reported. At a press conference on Friday, Kejriwal described the allegations as a “comedy”.
“I must be the sweetest terrorist in the world who builds roads, schools and provides free water and electricity,” he told reporters.
His comments came hours after Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to investigate the claims made by poet and former Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas.
On Wednesday, Vishwas had alleged that Kejriwal was willing to take the support of separatists during the 2017 Assembly polls. According to Vishwas, Kejriwal had said that he would either become the chief minister of Punjab or the “first prime minister of an independent nation”, in an apparent reference to Khalistan.
The Khalistan movement is a separatist campaign aimed at creating a country for Sikhs by seceding from Punjab.
Kejriwal also claimed an official has told him that a first information report will be lodged against him by the National Investigation Agency within two days, News18 reported.
“The sequence is interesting – Rahul Gandhi was the first to make this allegation against me, PM [prime minister] Modi used the same language the next day, and Priyanka Gandhi and [Akali Dal leader] Sukhbir Singh Badal followed suit,” Kejriwal said, according to The Indian Express. “No one had ever imagined that PM [Modi] would copy Rahul Gandhi.”
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha alleged that other political parties were conspiring to foil Kejriwal’s chances in Punjab.
“All the parties came together to stop the AAP from forming the government in Punjab,” he claimed. “As part of the conspiracy, Congress, BJP and Akali leaders are continuously giving false statements and spreading disinformation to defame Arvind Kejriwal.”
Voting for 117 Assembly seats of Punjab will be held on February 20. The results will be announced on March 10.
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