Advertisement row: Kejriwal says BJP must apologise for attack on Agarwal community

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday demanded that the Bharatiya Janata Party apologise for its referring to the Agarwal community as ‘boisterous’, adding that his rival political organisation in the upcoming Delhi assembly polls had crossed a line with its latest attack.

However, BJP has denied the allegation saying a metaphor has been twisted and misused by AAP. 

BJP leader Piyush Goyal said, "Effort being made (by AAP) to convert political statement into a caste-ist statement to get political benefit." 

Reacting to the ad, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal criticised BJP for targeting Agarwal community. Kejriwal said, “For the past few days, the BJP has taken out advertisements in which I have been personally attacked. First, they attacked my children via their ads, but I kept quiet. I have never risen to the bait if I was attacked. However, today, the BJP’s ad in the newspaper has crossed a line. They have referred to the entire Agarwal community as ‘updravi’ (boisterous), they have said that I am from an updravi gotra."

“The BJP’s fight is with me. They can say what they wish about me. Why would they attack my entire community? They must apologise to the entire community,” he added.

Kejriwal further confirmed that his party will file a complaint with the Election Commission against the BJP for his attack.

“We are going to file a complaint with the Election Commission because the BJP has lowered itself to attacking on the basis of gotra. The people of Delhi will not stand for this sort of dirty politics,” he said.

"I was aghast to see the advertisement. They have been using abusive language for Arvind Kejriwal. They have abused the community from which he belongs. Either they should withdraw the advertisement or apologize publicly. We will go to the Election Commission for the same," said AAP spokesperson Ashutosh.

Earlier on Saturday, the BJP had put up a newspaper advertisement targeting the Aam Aadmi Party and its chief. The ad portrays a caricature of Kejriwal, who swears on his children that he would never join hands with the Congress.

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The ad also reportedly refers to him belonging to a ‘boisterous’ gotra. 

This act by the BJP was criticized by various political parties. However, the party has gone silent on the matter.