NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal was detained just outside his residence on Saturday amid the sweeping crackdown in Delhi over the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) planned ‘Jantar Mantar 2.0’ protest demanding chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over the EC’s SIR of electoral rolls.Kejriwal shared a video from inside a bus, where he was seated alongside fellow detainees as slogans of “Gyanesh Kumar isteefa do” could be heard. Several AAP leaders, including senior party leader Sanjay Singh, were also present.The former Delhi chief minister had backed the CJP’s proposed demonstration a day earlier, promising to join the protest along with his family. He had also urged young people to turn up in large numbers to demand Kumar’s resignation over alleged “vote theft”.But on the day of the planned demonstration, October 10, the security clampdown began with Delhi Police tightening security around Kejriwal’s residence. The heavily guarded premises turned into fortress in the morning, as the CJP prepared to take its protest to the streets.Kejriwal was subsequently detained by police as the crackdown intensified across the capital.Before his detention, Kejriwal took to X to launch a sharp attack on the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the police action against CJP leaders.“This is worse than the Emergency. It’s official… We are living under an absolute dictatorship ruled by Modi. Arresting cockroaches straight off their flight shows an unprecedented level of fear,” Kejriwal said in a post on X.“PM Modi clearly knows he only won the election through vote chori and now he is hell-bent on protecting his fraud by completely crushing democracy. Gyanesh must go, but so must Modi,” he added.
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Kejriwal was among the political leaders detained amid protests against Gyanesh Kumar. Former chief ministers Mamata Banerjee and Pinarayi Vijayan were also detained during their respective protests against the poll body’s SIR conduct.