Arvind Kejriwal's attacker apologizes

New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal, who is fast being called AK-46, reached out to the two people who attacked him. He was greeted with a bouquet by one of them.

This comes a day before voting in Delhi for the national election. Kejriwal called on Lali, an auto-rickshaw driver who slapped him in Sultanpuri in northwest Delhi yesterday.

Lali was a picture of contrition as he spoke to the AAP leader with folded hands, and tried to touch his feet. Lali said, "I apologize. I committed a huge mistake attacking him.” Kejriwal responded, "I forgave him."

The AAP leader was in an open jeep when Lali garlanded him and then struck him hard on his left cheek, leaving him with a swollen eye. The 38-year-old was immediately tackled to the ground by AAP supporters and beaten.

After slapping Kejriwal, Lali had called him a "liar" and accused him of "betraying auto-drivers." His family said he was an AAP supporter and they did not know why he attacked him.

Kejriwal called off the road show after this incident and briefly meditated at Mahatma Gandhi's memorial Rajghat after the attack, alleged a larger conspiracy. He was all composure. He said, "Assault me as much as you want, I won't retaliate. In future, we will have more dangerous and life-threatening attacks, but we must be ready to face them and not retaliate."

The AAP leader is also meeting Abdul Wahid, 19, who punched him on Friday in Dakshinpuri in south Delhi.

Mr Kejriwal has faced several attacks in the past few weeks. He has earlier had ink, mobil oil and even an egg hurled at him in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, where he is contesting against BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.