AAP says Bansuri Swaraj represented 'anti-national' elements, BJP candidate hits back

The AAP on Sunday attacked the BJP for fielding Bansuri Swaraj from the New Delhi constituency in the Lok Sabha elections, claiming she had represented "anti-national forces" in court, even as she hit back at Delhi's ruling party over its choice of candidate from the seat.

Delhi Minister Atishi said at a press conference that Swaraj -- the daughter of late BJP leader and former Union minister Sushma Swaraj -- should apologise to the people of the country for taking up such cases and also demanded that the saffron party replace her.

"Swaraj has repeatedly defended in court fugitive Lalit Modi, who has fled the country after embezzling lakhs of crores of rupees. From 2012 to 2014, she consistently defended Lalit Modi from lower courts to the high court to the Supreme Court in the case of his passport," the senior AAP leader alleged.

"He fled with his passport before the division bench's order came and has not returned since. Not only that, Lalit Modi had also thanked Bansuri Swaraj via tweet for fighting his case," she claimed.

When two women were stripped and paraded during the violence in Manipur, Swaraj stood for the BJP-led Centre in the Supreme Court, Atishi claimed at the press conference.

"Today, she will go to women in the New Delhi constituency and ask them for votes," Atishi said.

The Delhi minister further alleged, "When the Chandigarh mayoral elections were held and there was an attempt at vote theft, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court called that election a 'murder of democracy', Swaraj stood for the 'fake mayor' from the BJP in the Supreme Court." Atishi also demanded that the BJP replace Swaraj as its candidate from the constituency.

Somnath Bharti, the INDIA bloc candidate from the New Delhi constituency, also demanded that Swaraj and the BJP should "apologise for such a blunder".

During the press conference, Atishi also spoke about outgoing BJP MP Harsh Vardhan's decision to bow out of electoral politics.

Vardhan is known for his honesty and hard work for the country, the people of his parliamentary constituency and his assembly constituency, she said.

"He always raised issues of public interest and spoke for them. I think it has become very clear that just as he was removed from the position of health minister at one time for raising some issues, today, it seems that perhaps his ticket has been cut due to his honesty," she claimed.

Barring North East Delhi, where the BJP has named Manoj Tiwari for a third term, the saffron party has fielded new faces from four constituencies -- New Delhi (Swaraj), West Delhi (Kamaljeet Sehrawat), South Delhi (Ramvir Singh Bidhuri) and Chandni Chowk (Praveen Khandelwal).

The BJP is yet to name its candidates for East Delhi -- where MP Gautam Gambhir has said he requested party chief JP Nadda to relieve him of his political duties -- and North West Delhi.

Hitting back, Swaraj questioned the AAP on its choice of candidate, who was allegedly beaten up by his own cadre in Rajendra Nagar on Saturday.

Responding to the AAP's allegations, she said, "I would like to ask the AAP -- why have you fielded a candidate who was beaten up by his own cadre in Rajendra Nagar yesterday (Saturday)?" "They have named a candidate who is not liked by his own party members. They can put allegations against us but people will give them a reply in the elections," she said.