New Delhi, Mar 12 (IANS): The war of words has escalated between Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP over the free travel scheme announced by the former for senior citizens visiting the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya.

The Delhi BJP on Friday demanded an apology from AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj for his comment on the parents of the party's state unit chief Adesh Gupta.

Earlier this week, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced in the Assembly that his government will offer free trips to the elderly people from the city to Ayodhya once the Ram Mandir is constructed there.

On Thursday, AAP MLA Bhardwaj had said, "If Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta has never taken his parents on a pilgrimage, then tell us, the Delhi government will take care of their free pilgrimage."

Addressing a press conference, Delhi BJP Vice President Virender Sachdeva said, "With the passage of time, the schemes and functioning of the Kejriwal government is getting exposed. AAP leaders are losing their patience and now their political decency and language against opponents too are going from bad to worse."

Sachdeva further stated that the way AAP spokesperson Bhardwaj has stooped down to the level of invoking names of parents of Delhi BJP chief in his indecent political statement is highly condemnable as he violated all the norms of political decency with his words.

Sachdeva demanded that Bhardwaj should apologise to Adesh Gupta's parents for his comment.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said that the 'Chief Minister Teerath Yatra Yojana' is a gimmick of the Kejriwal government, just like its other schemes.

"People still remember how during such a pilgrimage tour to south India, senior citizens were offloaded from a train at Mathura due to lack of proper bookings," Khurana said.