Security has been beefed up in Delhi ahead of a planned protest by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) outside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office. The AAP has called for the demonstration to protest the arrest of several party leaders by central agencies.
The escalation in the conflict between AAP and BJP happened after Bibhav Kumar was arrested on Saturday in connection with the alleged assault on AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal at the CM’s residence.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, who is out on bail till June 1 in the excise policy case, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "playing the game" of sending AAP leaders to jail.
As AAP leaders gear up to march towards the BJP headquarters near ITO today, Kejriwal challenged the Prime Minister to arrest them all. “They arrested me, Sisodia, Jain, and yesterday they arrested my PA. They are also saying they will arrest Raghav, Atishi, Saurabh, and Kailash Gahlot. So today I am telling the PM, we all are coming, arrest us all,” he declared.
How Delhi Police Is Handling AAP Protest
Heavy Security Presence: A heavy presence of security forces has been seen at the BJP headquarters, with barricades put up outside the facility. Forces have also been deployed outside the AAP office, which has been governing Delhi since December 2013 and has frosty ties with the BJP-led Centre.
Section 144 Imposed: No permission was sought for the protest, and therefore, the AAP's march will not be allowed, police officials said. Section 144, which prohibits the gathering of more than four people at a place, is in place on the DDU Marg and the ITO area, where the two parties have their offices.
Traffic Advisory: The traffic police has also issued an advisory in view of the protest planned outside the BJP office at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, while entry and exit have been disallowed at the nearest ITO metro station. "In view of the proposed protest by a political party at DDU Marg Delhi, Traffic will remain heavy at DDU Marg, IP Marg, Minto Road and Vikas Marg. DDU marg may be closed for traffic movement between 11 am to 2 pm. Kindly avoid these roads and plan your journey accordingly," the traffic police in a post on X.
ITO Metro Station Gate Closed: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) also announced that entry/exit gates at the ITO station will remain closed "until further notice."
