The Aam Aadmi Party under Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has “hidden” JNU student Sharjeel Imam, accused in a case of sedition for allegedly making controversial remarks calling for the annexation of the entire northeast from the rest of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged. BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao questioned Kejriwal for his silence on Sharjeel Imam and accused him of “hiding” him just like he “saved” Kanhaiya Kumar and other accused in the JNU sedition case.

“Kejriwal has not uttered one word against Sharjeel Imam and his seditious comments. AAP is doing dirty politics. @ArvindKejriwal, You are hiding Sharjeel imam somewhere just as you saved Kanhaiah and others in JNU sedition case. Aren’t you ashamed for such dirty politics Arvind?” Rao tweeted on Tuesday.

Rao’s accusation refers to the JNU sedition case in which Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and others were charged with sedition. However, two years on, the Delhi government is yet to provide prosecution sanction to proceed against the accused, thus stalling the case. The issue of BJP’s alleged protection to the JNU sedition accused has made its way into the Delhi Assembly election campaign of the BJP.

On Monday, BJP president JP Nadda questioned Kejriwal and his government for refusing to grant prosecution sanction for Kanhaiya Kumar and others and accused AAP of harbouring “anti-national elements” and the “tukde tukde gang”. Similar charges have been levelled against AAP and its convenor Kejriwal by many BJP leaders in the run-up to the elections.

Rao’s allegation comes amid hectic campaigning by all parties in the run-up to the Assembly elections scheduled for February 8. The BJP is hoping that shifting the narrative from the AAP’s development agenda to issues like anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh and the JNU cases will help it in the elections. The Aam Aadmi Party and Kejriwal had so far banked on the freebies offered by the government and its claims of transforming the health and education services in the capital to help it sail through comfortably in the elections. The BJP, however, is in no mood to allow Kejriwal an easy win and is pulling out all stops to derail Kejriwal’s campaign.