New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party leader Somnath Bharti was brutally beaten up by alleged BJP supporters in Assi Ghat in Varanasi on Wednesday evening during the filming of a television show.
The attackers who were reportedly wearing BJP caps vandalised the former Delhi law minister's car and broke window panes of his vehicle while also beating Bharti's driver.
The AAP leader was not seriously injured in the attack but he said that he was totally shaken up by the attack. However, Bharti didn't lodge an FIR saying that he believe in the principle of forgiveness.
After being assaulted, Bharti hit out at BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi who is due to file his nomination from the temple ctiy of Varanasi tomorrow and asked "are his supporters such violent people?"
"I was invited to a TV show where Modi supporters raised slogans and attacked me. When I tried to leave they hit me. Outside they attacked the taxi cab that I took," Bharti said alleging that it was a BJP sponsored attack.
Saying that he could have been killed if he was not helped by the people, Bharti questioned that "if they did this to me, what will be the state of the common man?" adding that, "Has Modi already started his bloodshed one day before his nomination?"
Meanwhile, the BJP reacting to the assault on Bharti said the party supports peace. "We don't believe in acts of violence, there should be no violence, we support peace, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal filed his nomination for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat on Wednesday.
courtesy: z N