New Delhi: AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal Saturday called on people across the country to reach Delhi and turn any spot where police stop them into their own ‘Jantar Mantar’.Kejriwal and AAP functionaries were detained while heading to Jantar Mantar to join the protest over alleged irregularities in the electoral roll revision. He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “crushing democracy to cover up democratic fraud”. “Modiji must be stopped from stealing votes; otherwise, this country and its democracy will not survive,” he added.Heavy security deployment was made outside Kejriwal’s residence in Lodhi Estate where the former chief minister and AAP workers started a protest with placards and slogans demanding chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.Police detained Kejriwal outside his residence along with MP Sanjay Singh and others. AAP workers tried to hold on to Kejriwal, but police carried him to a bus. Some AAP workers managed to hop onto the roof and raised slogans even as the bus started moving.“The youth of this country has now awakened, and they will not be intimidated by Modiji’s dictatorship. Gyanesh Kumar will now have to resign because people are no longer willing to tolerate vote chori,” Kejriwal said before police took him away.“PM Modi and Amit Shah have unleashed a reign of dictatorship in Delhi… They have imposed a climate of dictatorship across the country. This is happening because Modiji had been winning elections by stealing votes,” Kejriwal alleged, adding that now that he has been “caught red-handed, he wants to suppress the issue and continue the same practice”.An AAP functionary claimed that before Kejriwal and his family members could leave home to participate in the protest at Jantar Mantar, Delhi Police surrounded the house. AAP said police also prevented party workers from reaching Kejriwal’s residence.Its headquarters at Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla Lane was “sealed” as police erected barricades and stopped people from entering or leaving the premises. A group of party functionaries led by MLA Gopal Rai held a protest outside the office.
