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| Delhi Leader Accuses Narendra Modi of Harassment Campaign | Delhi Leader Accuses Narendra Modi of Harassment Campaign |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| NEW DELHI — The chief minister of Delhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of starting a harassment campaign against him, even suggesting that Mr. Modi could have him killed. | NEW DELHI — The chief minister of Delhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of starting a harassment campaign against him, even suggesting that Mr. Modi could have him killed. |
| “They can go to any limit,” said the minister, Arvind Kejriwal, in a video posted on Facebook. “They can even get me killed. They can do anything.” | “They can go to any limit,” said the minister, Arvind Kejriwal, in a video posted on Facebook. “They can even get me killed. They can do anything.” |
| Mr. Modi and Mr. Kejriwal, who both work in the national capital, have never been cordial rivals. | Mr. Modi and Mr. Kejriwal, who both work in the national capital, have never been cordial rivals. |
| Mr. Kejriwal, a former tax examiner who gained prominence as a crusader against corruption and refashioned himself as a defender of the poor, won a surprising landslide victory in Delhi State elections early last year. It was a crushing blow for Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. | |
| Mr. Kejriwal, a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, has lashed out at Mr. Modi before. But observers said Wednesday’s video reached new levels of acrimony. | Mr. Kejriwal, a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, has lashed out at Mr. Modi before. But observers said Wednesday’s video reached new levels of acrimony. |
| Ajoy Bose, a political commentator, called the video “bizarre.” | Ajoy Bose, a political commentator, called the video “bizarre.” |
| “We have had hostile relationships between state and central governments in the past, but this is way beyond anything I’ve ever seen,” Mr. Bose said. | “We have had hostile relationships between state and central governments in the past, but this is way beyond anything I’ve ever seen,” Mr. Bose said. |
| In the video, Mr. Kejriwal, who said he was motivated to release a statement after the arrests of Aam Aadmi Party lawmakers, tried to cast himself as a national rival to Mr. Modi. He accused Mr. Modi of ordering the Delhi police to harass Aam Aadmi Party politicians. Ten assemblymen in Delhi have been arrested in recent months, he said, and more lawmakers were under investigation by the government’s Anti Corruption Branch. | In the video, Mr. Kejriwal, who said he was motivated to release a statement after the arrests of Aam Aadmi Party lawmakers, tried to cast himself as a national rival to Mr. Modi. He accused Mr. Modi of ordering the Delhi police to harass Aam Aadmi Party politicians. Ten assemblymen in Delhi have been arrested in recent months, he said, and more lawmakers were under investigation by the government’s Anti Corruption Branch. |
| “It’s a cycle of oppression,” Mr. Kejriwal said. “Every day there are false cases.” | |
| The Bharatiya Janata Party responded to Mr. Kejriwal’s video swiftly and with a scorn that almost matched Mr. Kejriwal’s invective. | The Bharatiya Janata Party responded to Mr. Kejriwal’s video swiftly and with a scorn that almost matched Mr. Kejriwal’s invective. |
| “He is frustrated he is not the prime minister. He is frustrated by his own incompetence in governing Delhi and lack of result on ground,” said G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, a Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman, according to the Press Trust of India, a news agency. | “He is frustrated he is not the prime minister. He is frustrated by his own incompetence in governing Delhi and lack of result on ground,” said G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, a Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman, according to the Press Trust of India, a news agency. |
| “It is time for a pathologically obsessive Kejriwal to go for another detoxification therapy for the body and mind,” he said, apparently a reference to Mr. Kejriwal’s well-publicized meditation retreats. | “It is time for a pathologically obsessive Kejriwal to go for another detoxification therapy for the body and mind,” he said, apparently a reference to Mr. Kejriwal’s well-publicized meditation retreats. |
| Several lawmakers with the Aam Aadmi, or Common Man, Party have been arrested in recent weeks. On Sunday, two politicians were arrested: one on charges of desecrating a Qran and another on charges that he threatened a woman when she complained to him about electricity shortages in his district. | |
| A Delhi police spokesman did not answer calls for comment on some of the recent cases. | A Delhi police spokesman did not answer calls for comment on some of the recent cases. |
| Last December Mr. Kejriwal called Mr. Modi a “coward and a psychopath” in a Twitter post, after the Central Bureau of Investigation raided the Delhi State government offices and opened a case against Mr. Kejriwal’s principal secretary on suspicion of graft. | |
| The principal secretary, Rajendra Kumar, was arrested this month and granted bail on Wednesday, the Press Trust of India reported. | The principal secretary, Rajendra Kumar, was arrested this month and granted bail on Wednesday, the Press Trust of India reported. |