AAP targets BJP over rising crime incidents in Delhi

New Delhi, Nov 10 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday slammed the BJP over rising number of crime incidents, saying how can people trust it when it has failed to handle law and order in Delhi.

The war of words between the ruling AAP and opposition BJP has intensified over a host of issues, including law and order situation in the city, ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls due in February 2025.

"If the BJP cannot manage Delhi's law and order, how can people trust it with all of Delhi?" AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal questioned.

Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia in a statement charged that the BJP was attempting to shield gangsters, thereby "completely ruining" Delhi's law and order that was never so bad.

Sisodia assailed the BJP citing extortion calls made to a trader and frequent, open shooting incidents by gangs to extort money in different parts of the city.

"The BJP has led Delhi to a state similar to the underworld-dominated Mumbai of the 1990s. If the BJP can't handle law and order in Delhi, it should hand it over to Delhi's elected government, which will control it within ten days," he said.

The Delhi Police is controlled by the Centre through the lieutenant governor.

The BJP hit back at the AAP.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said the police should take more strict action in crime incidents and attacked the AAP stating Kejriwal should remember that many of his MLAs have also been associated with criminal incidents and one of them was even named in a gang war murder case.

The Delhi BJP president admitted that there have been some recent crime incidents in Delhi but the police acted "swiftly" to arrest the accused, revealing that most of these incidents were rooted in personal rivalries.

He added that just as the Delhi Police has a strong crime detection record, they should also suppress crime effectively.

He stated Kejriwal should understand that in the next 90 days, no matter how much rhetoric he uses, the public has already decided to bid farewell to the AAP government in Delhi. PTI VIT AS AS