Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar attacked during campaign, thrown ink
What's the story
The Congress's Lok Sabha candidate from North East Delhi, Kanhaiya Kumar, was assaulted and had ink thrown at him while campaigning in the New Usmanpur area of East Delhi on Friday.
The alleged attack occurred as Kumar and Chhaya Gaurav Sharma, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councilor from Brahmapuri, were leaving the party's office in Kartar Nagar.
Videos of the incident have since gone viral on social media platforms.
Police action
Investigation underway following assault on Kumar
The miscreants also allegedly misbehaved with Sharma, who has filed a police complaint over the incident.
In her complaint, Sharma alleged that as she and Kumar were leaving the party's office, seven to eight people garlanded Kumar, threw ink on him, and then thrashed him.
She also claimed that three to four women were injured, and a female journalist fell into a drain.
Twitter Post
Video of the attack
Kanhaiya Kumar is beaten by locals while campaigning..... 💀pic.twitter.com/J2LGcbRgNm
— Mr Sinha (Modi's family) (@MrSinha_) May 17, 2024
Viral videos
Attackers boast about assault on social media
Following the event, two of the alleged attackers released videos boasting about their actions.
They claimed to have attacked Kumar because he had raised slogans about breaking up the country and had spoken against the Indian Army.
"Hamne chaante ka jawaab diya hai (we have given an answer with our attack)," the two men, who called themselves "Sanatani lions," can be seen saying in the video.
Post-Attack statement
Kumar accuses rival of orchestrating attack
Meanwhile, Kumar has accused his rival contender, Manoj Tiwari, of orchestrating the assault due to his "rising popularity."
He claimed that the public would respond to this violence with their vote.
Kumar is contesting against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the North East Delhi seat in the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for May 25.
Tiwari, the sitting MP from the constituency, was the only Delhi MP who was not replaced by the party.