New Delhi: Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the family affected by the deadly blaze in Palam Village and alleged that “govt’s failure and negligence”, besides the fire department’s lapses, had clained nine lives.He also accused BJP workers of misbehaving. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva alleged that AAP functionaries “misbehaved with and assaulted a local BJP MLA.”“I went to meet the bereaved family in Palam, to share their grief, but BJP workers stopped us from meeting them, misbehaved, threw chairs. What kind of people are they?” Kejriwal posted on X. “Humanity has completely vanished from these people. Govt’s failure and negligence claimed nine lives. The fire brigade’s hydraulic lift didn’t open. People cried for help for hours and died, writhing in agony… and on top of that, these people are indulging in thuggery at the home of the grieving family? This is the height of inhumanity,” he wrote.The blaze in a residential-cum-commercial building on Wednesday killed nine of Rajender Kashyap’s family. Video clips showed groups of political functionaries and others involved in a scuffle, pushing and jostling with each other.AAP functionary Vinay Mishra said he was attacked by BJP functionaries. Palam MLA Kuldeep Solanki said he was attacked by AAP functionaries.No response came from police on the matter.Kejriwal said the fire brigade vehicle reached late, and when it arrived, its hydraulic lift did not work. “People trapped in the fire kept pleading for help for hours…. If help had reached on time, many lives could have been saved. One family has lost nine members. Despite this, that family is being threatened and intimidated,” he said.Sachdeva hit out at Kejriwal, saying it was “unfortunate” that he had blamed the fire brigade. “It is known that the lower floors housed godowns and shops where large quantities of inflammable materials were stored. These materials caught fire, and within moments, the blaze spread…. Many deaths had occurred before the fire brigade arrived,” he said.Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said AAP functionaries should explain how many of their ministers resigned over fatal fire incidents when AAP was in power.
