Kejriwal showing double standards, doing cheap politics on rape issue: Bhushan

Kochi, Oct 18: Expelled AAP leader Prashant Bhushan today accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of "double standards" and playing "cheap politics" over the gang rape of two minor girls in Delhi.

A day after the Chief Minister had hit out at Delhi police saying it had "completely failed" to provide safety to citizens, Bhushan, who now leads an outfit called Swaraj Abhiyan, said Kejriwal had tweeted demanding resignation of the then Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit when the Nirbhaya rape incident had occurred in Delhi.

"Cheap kind of politics continues. I remember when Nirbhaya rape happened, Arvind Kejriwal tweeted against Sheila Dikshit who was the Chief Minister that if the Chief Minister of Delhi is so helpless, then she should resign."

"But today he is doing the same kind of cheap politics by saying look AAP government can't do anything about rapes in Delhi because police is not in our control. These kinds of double standards have been adopted," Bhushan told reporters here.

Asked if he would support the Delhi CM's demand for authority over law and order in the capital, Bhushan said, "I would support it in principle but I doubt whether Arvind Kejriwal can run Delhi police any better than the central government."

He said he supports the idea of giving law and order authority in most parts of the city, other than the diplomatic areas, central government and VIP areas, to Delhi government.

"That doesn't mean that I am saying that Arvind Kejriwal can do a better job if he controls the police," he said.

Two minors were brutally gang raped in the capital on October 16, incidents which come close on the heels of the rape of a four-year-old girl in northwest Delhi. Kejriwal had visited the hospitals where the victims were being treated and said that his government has the requisite funds to take over control of police and provide security.

Bhushan also alleged that Delhi's AAP government is the "least transparent" government in the country.

"They don't provide any information under RTI Act quickly. There is no proactive disclosure made by the Delhi government. Therefore in transparency, its record is as bad as any other government," he said.

PTI