BJP poses 'paanch sawaal' for Kejriwal; AAP hits back, says party panicking

New Delhi: Raising the political temperatures in Delhi ahead of crucial assembly elections, the BJP on Thursday targeted AAP and asked its chief Arvind Kejriwal why he took support from the Congress to form a government and why did he seek facilities after rejecting them first, but the AAP termed the queries "old and boring" and claimed the party was "panicking".

Questions about the Congress support and facilities were among the five the BJP plans to put before Kejriwal everyday in the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections Feb 7.

Addressing a press briefing, senior BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that his party will ask Kejriwal five questions every day till February 5, starting with the Aam Aadmi Party's decision to join hands with the Congress to form the government in Delhi.

"Where were his moralities when he joined hands with the Congress to come to power in Delhi?" Rudy said, putting out first of the five questions. And why there was no case registered against former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit whom the AAP accused of corruption, Rudy asked.

Kejriwal was also asked to explain why he took police security after denying it initially, and why his government asked for SUVs. "How come comforts of life have caught on him so heavily, people of Delhi would like to have an answer," Rudy said.

Mentioning that Kejriwal criticised politicians flying in chartered planes during the Lok Sabha polls, Rudy asked why did the AAP chief himself take a chartered plane on his way from Gujarat.

"We are asking these questions because this identity of a common man he (Kejriwal) created for himself is based on lies," he said. Reacting to Rudy's "old and boring" questions, the AAP said the BJP was panicking.

AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said he was amazed that the BJP has same "old and boring" set of questions and was "making a mountain out of a mole hill". "Just want to tell the BJP that they can ask us 50, not five questions, but at least they should come up with a new set of questions. It shows that they are nervous and scared," Yadav said.

Same questions have repeatedly been asked and we have already answered them, he said, adding that it clearly shows that "panic has set in the BJP".

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal also took a jibe at BJP for its plan to pose five questions to him, wondering why the party was attacking him hiding "behind a veil" and not accepting his challenge for a public debate.

"I have been asking them for a public debate for a long time now. Why they are asking question hiding behind a veil? Come debate and answer the questions of the public. Why they are not ready?" the AAP chief retorted.

Kejriwal once again claimed that several senior BJP leaders had come together to defeat Kiran Bedi in the upcoming polls. "Before Kiranji arrived in the scene they were fighting among themselves, now they have come together to defeat her," he said.

Kejriwal expressed "shock" on being asked to respond on the saffron party's decision to release a vision document instead of a manifesto, and said it shows the party had no agenda for Delhi.
 "It's really shocking. Manifesto is a action point for governance. Not coming out with a manifesto shows they don't have an agenda for Delhi," he said.

Kejriwal, a one-time aide to Anna Hazare, also extended his "support" to the veteran activists plan to launch a fresh round of agitation against the Centre in spite of a "difference in opinion".

"I will support him in all his movements as long as he doesn't refuse my help. He considers politics to be dirty whereas I consider it imperative to join politics in order to clean it. That's the difference in opinion," he said.