NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Atishi broke down during a press conference on Monday over BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri recent remarks on her father. Citing father’s age and health, Atishi slammed Bidhuri for resorting to such “dirty politics”.
Bidhuri, the Kalkaji candidate fielded against Atishi in the upcoming Delhi polls, made a claim that Atishi had ‘changed her father’. “This Marlena (surname used earlier by Atishi) became Singh, changed name. Kejriwal swore over his children not to go with the corrupt Congress, Marlena changed father. Earlier she was Marlena, now she has become Singh. This is their character,” he had said on Sunday.
While being extremely emotional, Atishi responded to the controversial comments claiming that her father is not well. ” I want to tell Ramesh Bidhuri, my father was a teacher throughout his life, he has taught thousands of children coming from poor and lower-middle-class families, now he is 80 years old…now he is really ill that he can’t even walk without help,” she said.
Further expressing her anger, she added, “Will you (Ramesh Bidhuri) do such a dirty thing for the sake of election? He has come down to the situation where he is abusing an old man. I never thought that this country’s politics could stoop so low.”
Bidhuri’s remarks had drawn ire from other AAP leaders as well. Party’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had strongly reacted to the statement and slammed Bidhuri and BJP. “BJP leaders have crossed all limits of shamelessness. BJP leaders are abusing Delhi Chief Minister Atishi ji,” he said. Further, calling for ‘revenge’, he had added, “The people of Delhi will not tolerate the insult of a woman Chief Minister. All the women of Delhi will take revenge for this.”
Chief National Spokesperson for AAP Priyanka Kakkar had also voiced her anger over the remarks and said, “The kind of language BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri has used for woman Chief Minister Atishi ji shows his mentality. If these people can say such things about a woman Chief Minister, then if by mistake they win, how will they behave with common women?”