Delhi protest: Over 200 AAP, BJP workers detained; Kejriwal condemns Chandigarh polls 'rigging'
NEW DELHI: Over 200 workers of the AAP and BJP were detained on Friday afternoon while they were marching towards each other's offices at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg here, police said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had planned its demonstration against "cheating" in the mayoral elections in front of the BJP headquarters, and the BJP its protest over "corruption" in the Arvind Kejriwal government in front of the AAP office.
"We had already made elaborate arrangements with multi-layered barricades to stop the workers to reach to the party offices. About 150 workers from AAP and 60 from BJP have been detained and taken to separate police stations in buses," an official said.
The AAP march began soon after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann left the protest site, announcing peaceful protests to their party workers. They asked them to stop where the Delhi police stopped them.
The BJP's protest was led by its Delhi unit head, Virendra Sachdeva.
But workers and leaders of both parties could not reach their planned protest sites, covering a distance of hardly 800 metres, owing to a wall of barricades and police personnel on the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) Marg.
An official said over 1,000 personnel were deployed around ITO and DDU Marg. Two paramilitary companies comprising women staff and personnel from Delhi Police's armed unit were deployed at the DDU Marg with anti-riot gear and baton to control the protestors, the official said.
The protestors were detained at around 1.45 pm and were taken to separate police stations, where they will be released after a few hours, a police officer said.
Security had been stepped up in central Delhi since morning, with multi-layered barricading on several roads leading to the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg and the deployment of additional personnel in view of demonstrations by the AAP and the BJP.
While the AAP is staging a protest alleging cheating in the Chandigarh mayoral polls, the BJP has said its members are protesting near the AAP head office against the "corruption" in the Arvind Kejriwal government.
The elections to the posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor were held on Tuesday and the BJP won all of them, defeating the Congress-AAP alliance.
Addressing a large gathering at the protest at his party's office, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal targeted the BJP and said if it can "rig" the Chandigarh mayoral polls, it could go to any extent in assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
The world's biggest party was caught on camera "stealing" votes in the Chandigarh mayoral polls, he said at the protest, which was also attended by Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann.
"In the last few years, we have heard that the BJP rigs polls. They tamper with EVMs and get names of voters deleted from voter lists, but never was any evidence found. They were caught red-handed in Chandigarh stealing votes."
Arvind Kejriwal
The AAP, meanwhile, alleged that not just its workers, but some of its leaders, including MLAs and councillors, were placed under house arrest or detained to stop them from participating in the protest.
"Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel and Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal have been placed under house arrest.
MLAs of Rajouri Garden, Bijwasan, Chhatarpur, and Krishna Nagar, and councillors of Laxmi Nagar, Badli, Tri Nagar, Moti Nagar, and Timarpur have also been placed under house arrest," Delhi Minister and AAP leader Gopal Rai told a press conference.
He added that "police should issue a clarification on this."
"The job of police is to maintain law and order and not to spread anarchy. The way the police are arresting people and stopping them. It seems as if they are instigating people to spread anarchy," he alleged, adding that this is an "unprecedented situation."
The security measures and route diversions in view of the protests led to heavy traffic congestion in the central Delhi area, leaving commuters stranded in long jams.
Officials said roads leading to the DDU Marg have been closed since morning, and barricades have been set up near the headquarters of the BJP and the AAP.
Traffic movement was affected on the DDU Marg and roads leading to it, as well as the GT Karnal Road and other key stretches such as the NH-24 and the Akshardham-Noida Link Road.
Describing the scene around the AAP office, Goapl Rai said it has been turned into a "fortress" by police.
"It seems that it is a protest by police. At various places, our party workers have been detained. We want to stage a peaceful protest. Events and protests have been organised earlier also by the AAP, but never has such a large deployment been made by police," he said.
AAP leader Durgesh Pathak claimed that Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi was placed under house arrest, and it seemed like the BJP had turned Delhi into a "jail."
In a post on X earlier, Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi said, "Heavy barricading all across Delhi. Buses full of AAP volunteers being detained. Hundreds of paramilitary forces outside the AAP office."
"Why is the BJP so scared of a protest on the Chandigarh mayoral elections?" she asked.
Her cabinet colleague Saurabh Bharadwaj, in a video statement, asked whether the BJP was scared of Kejriwal.
"The entire country saw how votes were stolen in the Chandigarh mayoral polls by the BJP," he said.
The BJP on Tuesday retained all three posts of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, in a setback to opposition INDIA bloc members Congress and AAP.