Upset with Finland trip, man hurls ink at Manish Sisodia

Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia reacts after a man threw ink at him while he was speaking to the media outside L-G house in Delhi. (Photo: Asian Age)

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was attacked with ink outside lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung’s office on Monday. The attacker said he was upset over Mr Sisodia’s visit to Finland at a time when the capital is grappling with the viral onslaught of dengue and chikungunya. The number of chikungunya cases in the national capital has mounted to 2,625, with nearly 60 per cent of these recorded in the last week.

The ink attack took place when Mr Sisodia was speaking to reporters after meeting Mr Jung, who had asked him to return to Delhi from the Nordic country amid dengue and chikungunya crisis in the national capital. The ink-thrower, identified as 35-year-old Brijesh Shukla, has been arrested.

After reaching out for a white handkerchief, Mr Sisodia said: “AAP is committed to working for people in health and education. But the Congress and BJP are only working on ink. Their aim is to stop our initiatives. This is the dirty politics of Congress and BJP.” The deputy CM had ink splattered on his shirt, arms, and forehead.

He further challenged the BJP-ruled civic agencies to clear the “filth across the city” and slammed Congress for “ruining” the city’s education and health sector during its term. “This is merely a diversionary tactic adopted by them since we are focusing on development,” he said. Earlier, the Opposition BJP and Congress had targeted him for “abandoning” Delhi at a time when it is reeling under the outbreak of vector-borne diseases. About his meeting with the L-G, Mr Sisodia said: “I met the L-G and told him about the education system in Finland. I told him that we can also do well in education and health in Delhi and no compromise should be accepted on these areas.” He said that Mr Jung could have called him instead of writing a letter “if there was an emergency”.

Mr Shukla, who was questioned for five hours before his arrest, has been booked under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the IPC, according to the DCP (North) Madhur Verma. The officer said Shukla claimed that he had gone to meet L-G to discuss some problems being faced at the hospitals in his area.