Arvind Kejriwal, national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), quarreled with BJP IT cell official Amit Malviya over Tahir Hussain, the expelled AAP leader who was convicted in the case of killing of Intelligence Bureau (IB) employee Ankit Sharma in the 2020 Delhi riots.
Malviya took to X on Monday to share the news of Hussain’s conviction as he described him as a “close associate” of Kejriwal. However, Kejriwal distanced himself from Hussain and said that the party had expelled him long ago.
Read also: ‘Insaf Nahi Hawa Hai’: Tahir Hussain collapsed after being convicted in the IB employee murder case.
“Didn’t he join one of the sister organizations of the Chanda Chor Party?” Kejriwal wrote in response to Malviya
While critics have called AIMIM the “B party” of the BJP, Kejriwal recently accused the BJP of “chanda chauri” (stealing donations) amid a row over funds at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Tahir Hussain contested the 2025 Lok Sabha elections on an AIMIM ticket. “Their faith in me gave me strength, and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi Sahab supported me. I will fight for you with all my might. Help the son of Mustafaabad win again,” Hussain said during the election campaign in 2025.
He has constantly claimed to be involved in this case.
AAP distances itself from Tahir Hussain
The AAP on Monday distanced itself from Hussain and said he had no association with the party since his primary membership was suspended in 2020 after he was booked in the northeast Delhi riots case.
Meanwhile, the BJP also launched a fresh attack on Kejriwal and demanded that he apologize.
BJP attacks Congress AAP
The saffron party also targeted the Congress, blaming party leaders for the 2020 Delhi riots, and demanded an “unconditional apology” from Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, alleging that they indulged in “vulture politics” and “appeasement politics” instead of standing by the family of the slain intelligence officer, PTI reported.
Read also: Where is Rahul Gandhi? The Congress leader’s absence from the CJP protest raises Wangchuk’s “petty” questions and ridicule.
Targeting the Congress, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia claimed, “After Parliament passed the CAA, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi created an atmosphere of confusion by claiming that Muslims will lose their citizenship with its implementation.”
Ankit Sharma murder case
A Delhi Sessions Court on Monday convicted Hussain and four others in the murder case of IB employee Ankit Sharma who was killed during the 2020 Delhi riots. His body was recovered from a drain near Hussain’s house in northeast Delhi as clashes over CAA protests escalated into full-blown communal riots that lasted for nearly four days. At least 50 people were killed in the riots, one of the worst the national capital has seen.
Read also: ‘Holding Pakistan accountable’: India’s global call on use of force against PoK protests
According to the prosecution, Sharma, an IB security assistant, was living with his parents in Khajori Khas and left home on the evening of February 25, 2020, to buy groceries, after which he disappeared.
Sharma had reached the Chand Bagh Pulia (bridge) area, where clashes were ongoing between two groups. He was trying to calm both sides when he was identified and arrested by a mob of at least 20 to 25 people, who police claimed kidnapped, assaulted and repeatedly stabbed him before dumping his body the next day in a Khajuri Khas bank.
