Delhi Police seized 2,000 posters allegedly made by AAP
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has taken a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the police arrested six people and filed some 36 cases over posters on the Prime Minister.
Most of the posters that came up across Delhi had the slogan, "Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao (remove Modi, save the country)".
The police have, however, said they took action because the posters did not have the name of the printing press, which is mandatory by law.
Mr Kejriwal told reporters today that PM Modi "scared", referring to the police action and clearly indicating he does not believe their explanation.
"FIRs (first information reports) have been filed over the posters. Why is Modi ji so scared? Anyone can put up this poster. Such a scared Prime Minister, such an insecure Prime Minister," Mr Kejriwal said.
The posters numbering some 2,000 were allegedly being delivered to the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) office when they were seized by the police. The driver told the police he had been instructed to deliver the posters to the AAP headquarters.
In a tweet, the AAP questioned the FIRs and asked what was objectionable in the posters. The party said this was the "peak of Modi government's dictatorship".
The arrested printing press owners told the police they got an order to print 50,000 "Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao" posters.
The arrests have become the latest flashpoint between the centre and AAP, after the arrest of Mr Kejriwal's deputy Manish Sisodia for alleged corruption in framing a new liquor policy.
The BJP accused the AAP of not following the law while putting up the posters.
"AAP doesn't have the courage to say that they put up the protests. They broke the law while putting up the posters," Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said.
Mr Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann will jointly address a public meeting at Delhi's Jantar Mantar tomorrow amid the police action over the posters.