A day after a farmer committed suicide at an Aam Aadmi Party rally, Youth Congress workers on Thursday staged a demonstration at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence while Bharatiya Janata Party workers protested at Delhi police headquarters demanding action against the rally organisers.
A Congress party worker burns a banner of Arvind Kejriwal during a protest over the suicide by a farmer at a rally. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Scores of slogan shouting Youth Congress protesters, who were carrying placards demanding Kejriwal’s resignation, reached the CM’s Flagstaff Road residence at Civil Lines in North Delhi here around 10 am.
After they were stopped by the police, which had erected barricades, the protesters burnt an effigy of Kejriwal.
BJP Delhi chief Satish Upadhyay brave water cannons during a protest against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal over the farmer's suicide. Photograph: PTI
“They (AAP) should have stopped the rally and tried to save the farmer. The CM should resign from his post,” said one of the protesters.
The Delhi BJP, which had planned a protest march from ITO to Kejriwal’s residence around the same time, staged a protest at Delhi police Headquarters in central Delhi where police used water canons to disperse them.
Delhi BJP Chief Satish Upadhyay alleged that there was a conspiracy behind the incident and demanded that the organisers of the rally be booked for murder.
BJP workers including Upadhyay and senior leader Jagdish Mukhi were detained by the police and taken to the nearby police station in a bus.
“It is not a suicide but a conspiracy. People there instigated him to commit suicide. He had joined AAP six months ago. Manish Sisodia had invited him here. One of the AAP MLAs tweeted a condolence message 20 minutes before his death,” Upadhyay alleged.
“You continued your rally for 45 minutes even after the death of the farmer. You did not stop your rally. This is a motivated murder and everybody responsible in this case should be booked under charges of murder,” he added.
