NEW DELHI, March 23;
The Aam Aadmi Party has urged the Election Commission of India to direct the police not to hinder the access of the Aam Aadmi Party leaders and workers to the party office and their homes. There have been complaints in the past couple of days that the police have been obstructing the movement of the AAP leaders and workers to the party office near ITO.
Addressing the media, AAP senior leader and minister, Shri Saurabh Bhardwaj, expressed concern over the plight of the country and democracy. He said the AAP will approach the Election Commission and file a complaint against the BJP led central government. He stated that the BJP led central government has closed all the access to the AAP head office at ITO, that too when the Model Code of Conduct has already been implemented.
Shri Saurabh Bhardwaj stated, “Today, when the Model Code of Conduct has been implemented in the country for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, it means that all the organizations, including the police and the government, should ideally work under the Election Commission. The situation in the country today is a matter of concern for the whole world. Leading newspapers from all over the world, people from different countries, are worried about the arbitrariness of the BJP led Central Government during the elections in India, the way they (BJP) are trying to suppress the opposition, and the way electoral bonds are being used during the elections. Everyone is worried about what will happen to democracy in India now. What will happen to the electoral values here?”
The senior AAP leader also stated how the Central Government’s Delhi Police has been trying to illegally obstruct the election campaign of the AAP by all means. Yesterday, the AAP head office was barricaded from all the sides. The AAP is a National party, the leaders were denied entry to the national office of the party near ITO in Delhi. Ms Atishi and I were denied entry to our own office at ITO. Today, Ms Atishi, Shri Durgesh Pathak, Shri Adil Khan, and I were stopped from going to our ITO office. When Ms Atishi asked the officer on duty, DCP Sachin Sharma, that under which law was he stopping us from going to our own office? He had no answer, it is a clear case of bullying.
“There is no law, no order, we are being stopped from going to our own offices. In this situation, how will the Aam Aadmi Party contest the elections? You (Police Department) are sealing the head office of a national party; nobody has any access to the office. Let alone the ordinary people, you are not even letting the ministers enter their offices. Millions of people come to the office during the elections, workers and volunteers will come and go, there will be supply publicity material. Whatever the BJP led central government is doing is beyond limits,” he said.
Shri Saurabh Bhardwaj also elucidated another instance where the AAP leaders were denied basic rights. He stated, “After we were denied entry to the office, we were heading towards the official residence of Ms Atishi. We were going through the Modern School Flyover, which is far away from the AAP head office (ITO). Once we descended from the flyover, we were stopped by a police officer as soon as he identified Ms Atishi. This is when all the other vehicles were passing through without any checking. Only we were asked to stop, why? Can we not even go to our homes now? Do we need permission for that too? Under which law has the police been given the authority to control the movement of people? The AAP leaders cannot go to their offices or their own houses now?” he reasoned.
The senior AAP leader concluded by saying that the AAP leaders have decided to file a complaint to the Election Commission (EC) of India. He stated, “We have requested an appointment with the Election Commission of India. We will file a complaint against the Police Department and the police officers. We will also request the EC to conduct a neutral investigation on this, it being a constitutional body. I remember the time when the EC was considered a neutral organisation. These constitutional institutions should be protected, and, in that regard, we will reach out to them. We hope that the EC would display neutrality in this matter and strict action will be taken against the Delhi Police,” he said.
