India: Congress condemns attack on Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) The Congress Tuesday condemned the attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and said it does not support anyone practising such "dirty politics".

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said he would not take even 30 seconds to condemn such an act and anyone who practices such politics.

The remarks came after a man threw chilli powder at Arvind Kejriwal outside his office in the Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday, an attack the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) described as "politically motivated" while asserting that the BJP is hatching a conspiracy in collusion with Delhi Police to attack the chief minister.

"It will not take even 30 seconds for me to condemn such an act. The Congress does not believe in this kind of dirty politics. Whosoever has done it, it is neither definition of our politics, nor thought. I feel everyone should condemn such an act. Such a person who does such an act needs to be condemned, who ever it may be who practices such politics," Singhvi told reporters.

Earlier, the Delhi Police issued a statement recounting the incident but did not specify whether the man threw chilli powder. The statement mentioned that the man possessed a pouch which apparently contained chilli powder.

The man behind the attack, 40-year-old Anil Kumar Sharma, a resident of Naraina has been detained for questioning, the police said.

While the AAP blamed the BJP for the alleged attack, the Delhi chief of the saffron party Manoj Tiwari said such incidents "cannot be tolerated or justified by anybody" and called for a high-level probe.