New Delhi: The controversy over what AAP Leader of Opposition Atishi said in the Vidhan Sabha refused to die down on Sunday as Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva escalated the matter by posting on X a video clip of Atishi.Sachdeva dared AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal to get FIRs registered against him and BJP workers. BJP recently claimed that Atishi had insulted a Sikh guru in the house. Later, a video clip was tweeted by BJP ministers to bolster the allegation. AAP countered the charge, claiming it was doctored.At Sunday’s conference, Sachdeva claimed that the video, earlier shared by minister Kapil Mishra, was authentic and recorded during Assembly proceedings. He said the speaker had ordered a probe into the clip and “the truth will come out”. He alleged that despite the matter being under the speaker’s jurisdiction, AAP govt in Punjab \registered an FIR against Mishra. “I, along with thousands of BJP workers, am sharing the same clip. If Kejriwal has the courage, let his Punjab govt file FIRs against all of us,” he said. Meanwhile, AAP held a protest outside the BJP headquarters, accusing the party of circulating a “doctored video” that allegedly disrespected the Sikh gurus. Several AAP functionaries and MLAs were detained during the protest. Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that Mishra inserted words in the clip to inflame religious sentiments and demanded an apology from chief minister Rekha Gupta. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor, on the other hand, said that AAP’s protest exposed internal cracks within the party. At the demonstration in Atishi’s support, only a small number of workers turned up, he said. He said 21 of AAP’s 22 MLAs stayed away, suggesting that party seniors were distancing themselves from Atishi with Kejriwal’s consent.
