Punjab elections 2017: Why do Rahul Gandhi, Sukhbir Singh Badal believe Arvind Kejriwal is behind Maur Mandi bomb blast?

In what can only be called a political relationship gone sour, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, while campaigning in the run-up to the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections, claimed on Thursday that Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadm Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal was helping those who were responsible for the bomb blast at the venue of a Congress rally in Maur Mandi.

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The move seems like a U-turn from the Congress, which had given its support to bring the AAP to power for the first time in Delhi. Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi was also echoing the words of Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, who had said that the blast was "a direct result of the nexus between the AAP and radical elements."

What they said

Rahul Gandhi, while campaigning for the Congress in Sangrur in Punjab, said: "The powers that had destroyed Punjab, that were responsible for the violence here, are resurfacing. Six people were killed in a blast a few days ago. Kejriwal is helping these powers [that caused the blast]. He is helping them stand up again."

Meanwhile, Badal had said on Tuesday night: "We have been asking the Election Commission to take note of the manner in which AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal is mingling with extremist forces. Tuesday's bomb blast proves that our apprehensions were correct and that radical elements have infiltrated into Punjab in league with the AAP."

Why the AAP is being targeted

The AAP has emerged one of the stronger parties in the run-up to the Punjab Assembly elections, and has reached a position from where it can expand its voter-base to other parts of India. This is enough for both the BJP — which has allied itself with the SAD and has run Punjab for quite a few years now — and the Congress to feel threatened.

The immediate catalyst, though, is the fact that Kejriwal stayed at the house of a Khalistani activist — a Khalistani terrorist according to some — recently while campaigning for the AAP in Punjab. The house in question belonged to Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF) activist Gurwinder Singh in Moga. Gurwinder Singh, it may be noted, was once the chief of the KLF, and had been accused of inciting Hindu-Sikh violence during the dark days of Punjab.