Tejaswi Surya-led protest reaches Kejriwal door, AAP says attempt on his life

BJYM national president and Lok Sabha MP Tejaswi Surya led the protesters, many of whom were captured on CCTV breaking the boom barrier and kicking and banging the main gate before painting it red. DCP (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi said a CCTV camera was also damaged. The CM was not at home at the time.

The BJYM had organised a protest march from IP College to the CM’s residence on Wednesday against his remarks on making The Kashmir Files tax free in Delhi. In the assembly, the CM had said that while BJP workers were promoting the movie and the filmmakers had made crores off it, the suffering of Kashmiri Pandits had been exploited.

माननीय मुख्यमंत्री @arvindkejriwal जी के आवास पर भाजपा के गुंडों द्वारा करा गया हमला बेहद निंदनीय है. पुलिस की मौजूदगी में इन गुंडों ने बैरिकेड तोड़े, सीसीटीवी कैमरा तोड़े. पंजाब की हार की बौखलाहट में भाजपा वाले इतनी घटिया राजनीति पर उतर गए. pic.twitter.com/ewzhqQgYyU

— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) March 30, 2022

While the BJP has been protesting against Kejriwal for the past week, this is the first time that Surya joined the protest.

CCTV footage from the spot shows a security official trying to stop the crowd but soon getting outnumbered. Surya is visible in the video, though they are not seen participating in the vandalism.

“It is evident that this was a planned conspiracy. BJP has failed to stop Kejriwal ji and has failed to defeat him, so they want to eliminate him. They are trying to kill him… The attack was a planned conspiracy to kill him, the country will not tolerate this… This is criminal, not political… After their defeat in Punjab, they are rattled. BJP wants to get him killed because they are not able to defeat him,” said Deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

केजरीवाल की हत्या करवाना चाहती है बीजेपी! https://t.co/JnhCi41Oee

— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) March 30, 2022

Elaborating on the sequence of events, DCP Kalsi said: “Today at 11.30 am onwards, a dharna was started by around 150-200 protestors of BJYM outside CM residence at Link Road near IP College, against the remarks of Delhi Chief minister in Delhi Vidhan Sabha regarding the movie The Kashmir Files. Around 1 pm, some of the protestors breached two barricades and reached outside CM’s house where they created ruckus, shouted slogans. They were carrying a small box of paint from which they threw paint at the door. In the imbroglio, a boom barrier arm is also found vandalised as also a CCTV camera. Police team immediately removed them from the spot and detained around 70 persons. Legal action is being initiated.”

CCTV cameras outside the CM House were damaged during a BJP protest in December 2020 as well.

Sisodia also accused the police of facilitating the attack. “The police took these hooligans to the chief minister’s gate, the boom barrier has been broken, everything has happened in the presence of the police,” he said.

#WATCH | BJP workers dismantled barricades as they huddled outside Delhi CM and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s house during a protest, this afternoon.

Visuals courtesy: CCTV, Delhi CM house pic.twitter.com/X0K8KLxPs1

— ANI (@ANI) March 30, 2022

In response, the DCP said this was not true. “Strong arrangements were set up against the protesters. However, some 15-20 protesters managed to reach the Flag Staff road and were immediately removed.”

At a press conference in the BJP headquarters later in the day, Surya said: “We staged a demonstration outside Kejriwal’s residence against his comments, which sought to belittle the pain of the Kashmiri Pandit community and hurt the sentiments of the entire Hindu community… Our protests will continue till he tenders an unconditional apology for this.”