Sixth Phase Polling: Kejriwal Asks former Pakistan Minister to “Mind his Own Business,” BJP Candidate in Bengal “Attacked”

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, May 25: The Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday lashed out at a former Pakistani cabinet minister for commenting on the on-going Indian elections and asked him to mind the poor economic conditions of his country instead of interfering into the internal affairs of India.

After voting in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday, Mr Kejriwal posted a photo of his family and himself posing with the fingers marked with the indelible ink, asking people to go out and vote. “I voted today with my father, wife and children. My mother is very ill. She could not go. I voted against dictatorship, unemployment and inflation. You too must go and vote,” Mr Kejriwal had said in the post accompanying the photo.

Reacting on the Delhi chief minister’s social media post where he shared the photo of him and his family voting on polling day, Fawad Hussain, a member of the cabinet of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, responded saying: “May peace and harmony defeat forces of hate and extremism.”

Mr Kejriwal responded to the tweet by first asking Fawad Hussain to refrain from commenting on Indian elections and then called the nation the biggest sponsors of terrorism in a post worded in Hindi. “Chaudhary Sahib, I and the people of my country are fully capable of handling our issues. Your tweet is not needed. The situation in Pakistan is very bad right now. You take care of your country,” Mr Kejriwal said, indirectly referring to the political and economic issues plaguing Pakistan for several years now.

“The elections taking place in India are our internal matter. India will not tolerate interference from the biggest sponsors of terrorism,” he further added.

The leaders of the BJP who appreciated when some Pakistani politicians praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a strong leader, tersely commented on Kejriwal issue. They were quick to point out that it was shocking to see Pakistani politicians supporting an Indian politician. “Shocking! Why is Pakistan supporting Kejriwal and wanting more powers for him? This raises serious questions,” BJP’s national secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa said.

BJP youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), leader Tajinder Bagga alleged that Fawad Chaudhary’s message was Pakistan’s act of showing gratitude to Arvind Kejriwal. “Pakistan repaid Kejriwal for supporting Pakistan on surgical strike and asking for proof from the Indian Army,” Bagga alleged, without elaborating further.

Taking a dig, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said Arvind Kejriwal has “massive support” from Pakistan. “I’ve told you, not only Rahul Gandhi but Arvind Kejriwal has got massive support in Pakistan,” Mr Rijiju posted.

Voting is taking place on Saturday in eight seats each in Bihar and Bengal, seven in Delhi, 10 in Haryana, four in Jharkhand, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, and the final seat in Jammu & Kashmir — Anantnag-Rajouri, where poling was moved from the third to the sixth phase.

Meanwhile, the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate for Jhargram seat in West Bengal had to run away from the Mangalapota area of ​​Garpeta in West Midnapore district as stones were thrown at him and his security personnel during the sixth phase of polling on Saturday. Visuals showed security personnel carrying shields trying to protect the candidate, Pranat Tudu, as some people chased him and a large stone hit a person just centimetres away. As a few more stones rained down around them, the candidate, security officers and some media personnel can be seen making a run for their lives.  While Mr Tudu has blamed “Trinamool Congress (TMC) goons” for the incident and claimed two of his security personnel suffered head injuries and had to be hospitalised, the ruling party in Bengal said his security officers assaulted a woman while she was waiting in line to cast her vote outside a polling booth triggering a protest. “The villagers got enraged and staged a protest,” a party leader said.

In a post on X, the BJP’s Bengal co-incharge, Amit Malviya, blamed the TMC for the attack and claimed that people were voting to “kick out” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party. According to the BJP, Mr Tudu was on his way to some polling booths in Garpeta after receiving reports that the party’s agents were not being allowed inside.

“All of a sudden, TMC goons who had blocked the roads started hurling bricks at my car. When my security personnel tried to intervene, they were injured. Two CISF jawans accompanying me received head injuries and had to be hospitalised,” Mr Tudu said.

The Jhargram Lok Sabha constituency was one of 18 won by the BJP in West Bengal in 2019, up from only two in the general elections before that. The BJP candidate in 2019, Kunar Hembram, had beaten the Trinamool pick, Birbaha Saren, by a margin of only about 12,000 votes. The contest this time is between Mr Tudu, Kalipada Soren of the Trinamool Congress and Sonamamu Murmu (Tudu) of the CPM.