BULANDSHAHR: Influencer Swatantra Bharadwaj on Friday defended his alleged assault on the father of Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) activist Nishu Azad during a protest at Jantar Mantar, claiming that his actions were in self-defence.Bharadwaj’s clarification came after a podcast clip surfaced on social media in which he allegedly claimed to have “cracked the skull” of Nishu Azad’s father and suggested that he escaped arrest despite the alleged assault.Speaking to ANI, Bharadwaj said he had acted to protect himself after being surrounded by a group of people.“What people are calling an attack was an act of self-defence. If I had not acted in self-defence, I could have been lynched by the mob or killed. There was no attempt to attack him. I have proof in the form of video. I was gheraoed by 10-15 people. When I acted in self-defence, he was hit on the head,” Bharadwaj said.He further claimed that, according to the medical report prepared by Delhi Police, the injured man had not suffered major injuries and said he was cooperating with the ongoing investigation.Bharadwaj also dismissed the podcast clip circulating on social media as fake and claimed that his remarks had been taken out of context.“The podcast clip being shared on social media by Rahul Gandhi and others is fake. Those saying that I was released because of influence from Kapil Mishra, I want to tell them that Kapil Mishra and Chirag Paswan are like my brothers. People should understand what was said in sarcasm,” he said.Meanwhile, the Cockroach Janata Party has launched a protest in the national capital, demanding legal action against Bharadwaj over the alleged assault.Earlier, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal shared a video related to the Jantar Mantar protest posted by the CJP on its X handle and questioned the alleged protection extended to Bharadwaj.Sharing the video, Kejriwal questioned whether freedom fighters such as Bhagat Singh had sacrificed their lives for a country where, he alleged, political leaders would “openly protect such thugs”.“You absolutely must watch this video. Your blood will boil. Did heroes like Bhagat Singh sacrifice their lives for this—that one day the country would get a prime minister who would openly protect such thugs?” Kejriwal said in his post on X while sharing the video.
