Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday denied that he had ever called Arvind Kejriwal a “terrorist”, a complete U-turn from his earlier statement that he can “prove that the Delhi CM-elect is one”.
“I have never done such a thing (calling Arvind Kejriwal a terrorist)… Secondly, the main outcome of Delhi election results is the Congress lost completely,” the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change was quoted as saying at a news conference in Pune by news agency ANI.
Ahead of the Assembly election, Javadekar had joined BJP MP Pravesh Verma in attacking Arvind Kejriwal reiterating the latter’s ‘terrorist’ remarks against the Chief Minister saying that “he has the proof of Kejriwal being a terrorist”.
“Kejriwal is making an innocent face and asking if he is a terrorist, you are a terrorist, there is plenty of proof for it. You yourself said you are an anarchist, there is not much of a difference between an anarchist and a terrorist,” the minister had said.
BJP MP Parvesh Verma, a repeat offender, was the first to use the term for the Delhi Chief Minister on January 25 during a campaign rally.
In a video of the alleged incident, Verma is seen warning the voters that “Shaheen-Bagh type of people will take over streets if Arvind Kejriwal returns to power” adding that this “has happened in Kashmir with Kashmiri Pandits”.
“We hear instances of Hindu women picked up by Muslim men… no action is taken as terrorists like Kejriwal are hidden everywhere,” Verma rants and asks, “Should we fight with Pakistan terrorists in Kashmir or with terrorists like Kejriwal?”
Interestingly, Javadekar’s claim of having never used the word “terrorist” comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said statements like ‘Desh ke gaddaron ko’ and ‘India-Pakistan match’ should not have been made while accepting the defeat in Delhi Assembly elections.
“I accept our defeat in the Delhi elections. Statements like Desh ke gaddaron ko should not have been made. The party might have suffered because of such statements,” Shah said while speaking at the Times Now Summit.
The ‘Desh ke gaddaron ko’ statement popped up during an election rally by Union Minister Anurag Thakur in Rithala in North Delhi during which he was seen prompting “desh ke gaddaron ko…” to which the crowd responded “…goli maaro s***n ko”.
Kapil Mishra, who contested and was defeated by AAP’s candidate from Model Town constituency, was the one who triggered controversy by referring to the Delhi election as an “India vs Pakistan match”.