AAP alleges its volunteers attacked by BJP workers in Varanasi during campaigning

Varanasi: The Aam Aadmi Party has alleged that its volunteers have been "severely attacked" by BJP workers while campaigning in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, where the party's chief Arvind Kejriwal has challenged the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the general elections.

According to the police, two AAP volunteers Nandan Mishra and Ankit Lal had an argument with some people at Assi Ghat in Varanasi which later turned into a brawl and a few men punched Ankit.

"We were campaigning; after campaigning, I stopped for drinking water on a nearby shop. There was a group of BJP workers; on seeing they argued with us. One of them came and started beating me. They were around 15-20 people," said Nandan Mishra, who is the guitarist of Play4Change, a musical election campaign that AAP takes from city to city.

"They had badges of BJP; I think they were BJP party workers. They started saying Kejriwal is an escapist. I said to them that let's discuss on this. They started thrashing us," said Ankit Lal.

The police have registered a complaint against unknown assailants.

Meanwhile, the BJP has hit back saying AAP workers first instigate and then blame the party. "If a worker is involved, we will take strict action but we appeal to AAP not to instigate and then put the blame on BJP," said BJP Spokesperson Nalin Kohli.