Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with his family members after casting his vote in Delhi on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday asked former Pakistan Minister Fawad Hussain to mind his own business and not to meddle in the Lok Sabha poll, saying India won’t tolerate interference in it by the “biggest sponsors of terrorism”.
Mr. Kejriwal’s response came just minutes after the Pakistan leader shared on his X handle a post from the CM, in which his family members and he were seen showing their fingers marked in ink after they voted in Delhi.
In his post on the microblogging service, the CM had said he voted against “dictatorship, inflation and Unemployment”. Sharing the CM’s post with the hashtags, “MorePower” and “IndiaElection2024”, Mr. Hussain said, “May peace and harmony defeat forces of hate and extremism.”
Mr. Kejriwal hit back on X, saying India’s people are capable of handling their issues. “Your comment is not needed. The situation in Pakistan is very bad right now. You take care of your country,” he added.
Reacting to the snub, the former Pakistan Minister said though electioneering is India’s internal matter, the CM would appreciate that extremism is a “borderless phenomenon and dangerous for everyone”, including India.“The situation in Pakistan is very far from ideal but individuals must strive for a better society wherever they are,” he added.
‘Pak. backing CM’
Meanwhile, the BJP hit out at Mr. Kejriwal, alleging that Pakistan is “supporting” the AAP leader’s “politics of corruption”. The party also accused the CM of taking “foreign funding”.
“It is not a coincidence that a statement in support of Kejriwal came from Pakistan on the day of the election in Delhi. He is in cahoots with the enemies of the country and has become a big threat to the security of the country,” Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said.
Earlier on May 1, the Pakistan leader — infamous for boasting about Pakistan’s hand in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack — had posted on X excerpts from a speech by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with the caption, “Rahul on fire”.
This drew sharp criticism from BJP leaders, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying Pakistan is desperate to make Mr. Gandhi India’s next PM.