A day after the BJP and the Congress decided to boycott the Delhi Assembly s 25th anniversary celebrations, the Aam Aadmi Party on Friday hit back, accusing them of indulging in  petty politics.

To mark the 25th anniversary of its first sitting on December 14, 1993, the State Assembly has planned an event at its premises on Saturday. Though senior BJP leader L.K. Advani was to be the chief guest at the event, he backed out on Tuesday citing personal reasons, according to Speaker Ram Niwas Goel.

AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj on Friday said the silver jubilee celebration was a tribute to Delhiites as the Assembly was formed after years of struggle.

 At this juncture, it is important to place on record the petty-minded attempts by some political forces to belittle the successful evolution of the Delhi Assembly, he said, accusing the BJP and the Congress of adopting  cheap tactics  and making  loaded political statements about a non-political commemorative event.

Without naming parties or individuals, Mr. Bharadwaj was alluding to Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta and Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken, both of whom had issued statements on Thursday about boycotting the function.

 The two parties, one which barely has any presence in the Assembly and the other which lives in history, fail to understand the dynamics of a changing Delhi, which is now truly aspirational and the Assembly represents that progressive change, Mr. Bharadwaj said.

Mr. Gupta termed Mr. Bharadwaj s remark a symptom of the AAP s  frustration  at not being able to exercise its  supremacy .  This arrogant allegation is precisely the reason behind the Opposition s decision to boycott tomorrow s programme. The AAP wants to exercise supremacy at any cost by disregarding all rules and regulations,  he said. Mr. Maken had earlier said that the celebrations should have been apolitical, with an all-party celebration committee planning the event.