No place for violence in democracy: Kejriwal

In a statement released on Monday, former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convenor Arvind Kejriwal denounced the attack on NCP-SCP leader Anil Deshmukh by unnamed criminals. Kejriwal denounced the violence on social media site X, saying it is unacceptable in a democracy.

“I strongly condemn the life-threatening assault on Anil Deshmukh ji. Violence has no place in a democratic society,” Kejriwal wrote on X.

Anil Deshmukh was taken to a local hospital for treatment after being hurt in the attack. The incident happened on the last day of the Maharashtra Assembly election campaign, which is scheduled for November 20. According to reports, the former Maharashtra minister and leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) was hurt when stones were thrown at his vehicle on the Katol-Jalalkheda Road in the Katol Assembly constituency.

Salil Deshmukh, Deshmukh’s son, is running against BJP candidate Charansingh Thakur from the Katol seat on the ticket of the NCP Sharad Pawar faction. Elections for the Maharashtra Assembly are slated for November 20. On November 23, all 288 constituencies will be counted. In an attempt to regain control of the state, the opposition MVA coalition—which consists of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Nationalist Congress Party (SCP)—will take on the Mahayuti alliance, which is made up of the BJP, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP fraction, and the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde.
The BJP secured 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44 in the 2019 Assembly elections. In 2014, the Congress won 42 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the BJP 122.