The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday alleged that actor Deep Sidhu was planted as a "stooge" by the BJP to invoke "chaos" during farmers' Republic Day tractor rally in Delhi.
The farmers’ tractor parade on Tuesday turned violent after clashes broke out between protesting farmers and Delhi Police personnel after tens of thousands of protesters broke through barricades, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort.
Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu was on the receiving end after various farm union leaders and politicians blamed the actor for inciting violence during the rally.
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At a press conference, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha, while questioning the alleged connection between Sidhu and the BJP, showed several photos purportedly of the actor with various BJP leaders.
"The BJP planted their stooge Deep Sidhu to create chaos in farmers' tractor parade," Chadha said.
Sidhu was among the protesters at the Red Fort when religious flags were hoisted at the iconic landmark.
Amid a massive outrage over protesters hoisting a religious flag at the Red Fort during the tractor rally on Republic Day, Sidhu defended their action, saying they did not remove the national flag and had put up the 'Nishan Sahib' as a symbolic protest.
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The 'Nishan Sahib' flag, a symbol of Sikh religion, is seen at all gurdwara complexes.
In a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday evening, Sidhu had claimed that it was not a planned move and that they should not be given any communal colour or dubbed as fundamentalists or hardliners.
He had also stated that the national flag was not removed from the flagpole at the Red Fort and that nobody raised a question over the country's unity and integrity.
Sidhu, who had been associated with the farmers' agitation for the last many months, said "anger flares up" in a mass movement like this when the genuine rights of people are ignored.
With PTI inputs
