Indian capital New Delhi has been experiencing a new type of political slugfest between the city state’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the federally-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The AAP vs BJP tussle in Delhi reached a new peak on Tuesday, March 21st, following a series of confrontations.
After dilly-dallying over approving Delhi’s state budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government finally gave a green signal to it. However, the approval of the Delhi budget came after a round of severe AAP vs BJP tussle in Delhi, with both sides blaming the other for the fiasco.
Even though AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal informed, after the Union government approved Delhi’s budget, that he would like to work in tandem with Prime Minister Modi, calling him his “elder brother”, a new AAP vs BJP tussle in Delhi unfolded.
The Delhi Police launched a massive campaign on Tuesday to crack down on those who have pasted a poster against Modi in Delhi. The posters that called for removing Modi to save the country (“Modi Hathao, Desh Bachao”) were torn off by the Delhi Police, which is controlled by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, controlled by the BJP, and over 100 cases have been filed.
The Delhi Police also arrested six people, including the owners of printing presses. Moreover, the Delhi Police also arrested a driver from the IP Estate area who was allegedly delivering a consignment of posters to the AAP office. The Delhi Police claimed they are cracking down on the posters in a bid to stop defacement and alleged that the posters are illegal as they didn’t carry the name of the printer.
The incident visibly irked the AAP as it questioned the Delhi Police’s crackdown. The AAP posted the slogan, “Modi Hathao, Desh Bachao”) on its Twitter handle and asked what was wrong with the slogan. The AAP accused the BJP of exhibiting what it called “the peak of dictatorship”.
Even though Kejriwal showed his willingness to cooperate with the Union government, the Delhi Police’s crackdown and tearing down of anti-Modi posters showed that there is no end to the ongoing AAP vs BJP tussle in Delhi. As the country heads towards the crucial general elections in 2024, it seems that this slugfest will only intensify and grow in magnitude.
