‘No BJP leader asked Bidhuri to apologise for his indecent remarks’

New Delhi: Chief Minister Atishi, who is seeking re-election from Kalkaji in next month’s Assembly elections, on Sunday hit out at her rival BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri for his alleged remarks on her family made last week.

In an interview with PTI Videos, Atishi also claimed that her crowd-funding initiative launched on Sunday morning generated Rs 17 lakh in donations within just 10 hours.

Atishi, who defeated BJP’s Dharambir Singh in 2020, said she will proceed to file her nomination for the February 5 polls at the district magistrate’s office after praying at the Kalkaji temple and at a gurdwara.

On her BJP rival’s recent remarks, Atishi said, “Bidhuri has shown his character. Within 24 hours of getting a ticket, he made an indecent comment on Priyanka Gandhi. In the next 24 hours, he abused me and my family from Prime Minister Modi’s stage at a rally.”

At a ‘Parivaratan’ rally of the BJP in Rohini last week, Bidhuri targeted Atishi for

dropping her surname and went on to say that she “changed her father”.

“Not a single BJP leader has said that Bidhuri was wrong, or asked him to apologise to Pryanka Gandhi or me (for his remarks),” Atishi said.

“This means the BJP supports Bidhuri’s indecent language and the abuses he hurled at women. Had they not, they would have said he was wrong and asked him to apologise to Priayanka Gandhi and me. But they did not do so,” she added.

Before targeting Atishi, Bidhuri had stoked a controversy by claiming that he would make roads which are like Congress leader “Priyanka Gandhi’s cheeks” in his constituency, a comment for which he later expressed regret.

Atishi, who launched her crowd-funding campaign to contest the polls on Sunday, called the initiative an “example of honesty”.