‘Forcibly taken to BJP office, threatened with raids’: AAP and BJP spar over claims of MCD councillor abduction

He further said, “AAP’s senior leaders made calls to police when they heard about my abduction. When the BJP leaders got to know about this, they asked someone to drop me back to my house. I told them that I was not scared of the ED and CBI because I had done no wrong.”

Even as AAP leaders claimed that they filed a complaint, sources in Delhi Police said officials paid a visit to Chander’s home, and the MCD councillor was at his house. No complaint was filed, sources added.

देश की राजधानी में BJP की खुलेआम गुंडागर्दी पार्षद रामचंद्र को धमका कर उनका अपरहण कर लिया गया है।
उनको ED CBI लगाकर बदनाम करने की धमकी दी गई है।
सुनिए उनके बेटे आकाश को।
दिल्ली में ये क्या हो रहा है @AmitShah @LtGovDelhi @CPDelhi pic.twitter.com/UtAeB3q4Un

— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) September 1, 2024

Earlier in the day, Chander’s son, Akash, had accused the BJP of “abducting” his father and threatening him. “Narayan Singh, a former BJP councillor from Bawana, called my father and said he wanted to meet him. When my father went to meet them, five to six people were with him. They threatened my father with raids and then took him away in their car,” Aakash said in a video that was posted by AAP leader Sanjay Singh on X (formerly Twitter). Ram Chander, however, later was reported to have returned home.

After switching allegiance yet again, Chander had last week publicly admitted that he regretted the decision to join BJP. “Joining the BJP was my biggest mistake… I will remain with the AAP throughout my life,” he said. The AAP had credited his return to Sisodia and Sanjay Singh. Chander had also claimed that he saw Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his dream who had admonished him for switching loyalties.

On Chander’s alleged abduction, Sanjay Singh also uploaded a post on Sunday, which read: “BJP’s open hooliganism in the country’s capital: councillor Ram Chander has been kidnapped after being threatened. He has been threatened to be defamed by using ED and CBI,” he said. Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia also posted a similar message on X.

In response, the Delhi BJP denied any involvement, accusing the AAP of “fake sensationalism”. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said, “You guys (AAP leaders) are the kings of fake sensationalism. Whether councillor Ram Chander is not in your party or not, we have nothing to do with it. It is certain that he is sitting in his house.”

Stepping up the attack, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said, “AAP leaders are merely making unsuccessful attempts to create confusion among the public… Their councillor is at home and claiming that someone has taken him away — no details of where he was taken and who dropped him home,” he said. He also requested the Delhi Police to thoroughly investigate the video and to take legal action. The AAP has alleged on numerous instances that the BJP has been trying to lure or threaten its councillors. On Sunday, MLA Durgesh Pathak alleged a “complete breakdown of law and order”. “Councillors are being dragged out of their homes and are being forcibly made to vote for BJP,” he further said ahead of the crucial MCD ward committee election.

As a former MLA who won the Bawana Assembly bypoll in 2017, Chander had earlier expressed disappointment over not being given a ticket by the AAP in the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections. He cited this as the key reason for the brief association with the BJP.