AAP leader Somnath Bharti attacked in Varanasi
, a leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, was attacked this evening in Varanasi after he left the venue of a TV show that featured him. The windows of his car were smashed and its driver was allegedly assaulted.
Arvind Kejriwal, chief of the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP, is running for Parliament from Varanasi against
Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.
(Elections: full coverage)"Has Modi
ji begun 'khooni khel' (bloody game) even before filing his nomination? Someone who is the messiah of 'khooni khel', 'khooni raajneeti' (bloody politics)... so has this happened just a day before the filing of nomination? Is this a trailer, and if so, then what will he do in the entire film? Will he indulge in bloodshed and violence for which is he known?" Mr Bharti said after the attack.
The 39-year-old was the Law Minister when Mr Kejriwal served as the Chief Minister of Delhi for just 49 days earlier this year.
He triggered a huge controversy and accusations of serious human rights violations after he led a mob in a south Delhi neighbourhood which allegedly harassed and illegally detained a group of African women on suspicion they were part of a prostitution and drugs racket. (
National rights panel asks for police action against Somnath Bharti's 'midnight raid' in Delhi)
The women filed a police case against him. Some said they were manhandled and beaten and forcibly taken to undergo medical examinations at a government hospital. One woman said she was forced to urinate in public. (Also read:
'Somnath Bharti led the people who attacked me,' says Ugandan woman)
Mr Bharti admitted that that "midnight raid" took place in January, but says there was no ill-treatment of the women. He says he was forced to act because police failed to do so despite complaints from local residents.