Kejriwal Under House Arrest by 'BJP's Delhi Police' Since Visit to Singhu Border, Alleges AAP; DCP Denies

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was placed under house arrest since he visited protesting farmers at the Singhu border and pledged support to them.

In a tweet, AAP said, “BJP’s Delhi Police has put Hon’ble CM Shri @ArvindKejriwal under house arrest ever since he visited farmers at Singhu Border yesterday. No one has been permitted to leave or enter his residence.”

Kejriwal, the party’s national convener, had pledged support to the farmers who are protesting against the Centre’s three agricultural laws. He visited Singhu border, where the farmers are demonstrating, on Monday to review the arrangements made for them.

“I checked the arrangements. We received a lot of pressure to allow the use of stadiums as temporary prisons but we did not give permission and I feel this helped the movement. Since then our party MLAs and ministers have been involved in ensuring that farmers do not face any discomfort,” he said. “We are working like ‘sewadaar’. Here I have not come as a chief minister but as a ‘sewadaar’ to serve the farmers. It is our responsibility to support the farmers. I hope soon a solution is reached,” he told reporters.

On the bandh called by farmers, the chief minister had said, “AAP will participate in the nationwide strike. I hope the whole country joins it peacefully and I appeal to them to join and support the farmers”. “I have come to survey the arrangements. The toilets are clean. Water isn’t reaching all points so a motor and a pipeline will be placed,” he said “The farmers said they are happy with the arrangements. Our MLA Jarnail Singh spent the night here in support of them. All our volunteers and party members are involved in serving the farmers,” Kejriwal added.

The Delhi Police, however, denied the charges, with the DCP saying it was a “general deployment to avoid any clash between AAP and any other parties and Kejriwal was free to step out”.

The chief minister’s visit, however, was not appreciated by all as Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday asked his Delhi counterpart if he even knew the difference between wheat and paddy. “For a man who had wasted no time in notifying one of the three Central farm laws and publicly declared himself to be helpless in the matter, Kejriwal’s claim of being a ‘sevadar’ of the farmers is simply ludicrous,” said Amarinder Singh, ridiculing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s move to go to the Singhu border to meet the protesting farmers.

Singh challenged his Delhi counterpart to cite any move taken by his government for the farmers in Delhi.

“You did not even bother to convene a session of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha on the issue,” said Amarinder Singh in a scathing attack on the Delhi Chief Minister, whom he dubbed as nothing more than a master-twister who could stoop to any level to further his political interests.

“If Kejriwal thought all the demands of the farmers to be valid, why did he not get the state amendment laws passed in Delhi on the lines of Punjab and some other states, to negate the devastating effects of the Central laws,” he said.

He also asked Kejriwal to back his claims of supporting the farmers’ demands by opposing the farm laws openly and constitutionally, as the Punjab government was doing, instead of indulging in political drama for public consumption.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here