The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla of using inappropriate language against its MLA Rituraj Jha during a live television debate on Republic Bharat.

"BJP spokesperson hurled abusive words at Purvanchal MLA Rituraj Jha on a national channel. This is an insult to the Maithili Brahmin community and an insult to all Purvanchali people," said AAP in a social media post.

In the post, the AAP shared a 6-second video clip on X (formerly Twitter), where Poonawalla can be heard making remarks about Rituraj Jha. In the video, Poonawalla says, "Main bhi keh sakta hoon ki Sanjay Jha, Jha 1 aur Rituraj Jha, Jha 2...Main bhi bol sakta hoon Jha 2 ho aap" (I can say Sanjay Jha is Jha 1 and Rituraj Jha is Jha 2. I can say you are Jha 2).

The incident occurred during a heated debate where the AAP MLA had referred to Poonawalla as 'Chunawalla', prompting objections from the BJP spokesperson. The show's host had to intervene, requesting the AAP MLA to address Poonawalla by his proper name.

The political temperature in Delhi has been rising since the announcement of election dates in January. Political leaders have been increasingly engaging in personal attacks against each other. Earlier, BJP's former MP Ramesh Bidhuri had also made controversial remarks about Priyanka Gandhi.

The AAP has termed Poonawalla's comments as an insult to the Maithili Brahmin community and Purvanchali people at large.

Delhi is scheduled to go to polls on February 5, with results to be declared on February 8.