Heightened security irks CM Arvind Kejriwal’s supporters

The attack on Kejriwal during a roadshow in west Delhi’s Moti Nagar Saturday evening made a lot of difference when he took to the road with Chadha. Suresh, the man who allegedly slapped Kejriwal, was arrested on Sunday.

It was the first time that Lalita Devi, 44, saw chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in person and she had come with a garland. But Kejriwal’s enhanced security at his roadshow for Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate, Raghav Chadha, on Monday allowed Devi just a glimpse of the leader.

Heightened security irks CM Arvind Kejriwal’s supporters (HT Photo)

“I shredded some flowers and threw petals on him,” said a dejected Devi, a stall owner in south Delhi’s Govindpuri.

In Okhla, motorcycle mechanic Kaushal Kishore Raj rued the enhanced security. “It is sad that we can’t get close to a CM who was otherwise so accessible”.

The attack on Kejriwal during a roadshow in west Delhi’s Moti Nagar Saturday evening made a lot of difference when he took to the road with Chadha. Suresh, the man who allegedly slapped Kejriwal, was arrested on Sunday.

On Monday, two rings of policemen were seen flanking Kejriwal’s open vehicle as it passed through crowded slums. As the roadshow picked up speed, police officers had to hop on motorcycles to keep pace. Several police vehicles, and paramilitary personnel in trucks, followed the chief minister, letting no one get close to him during the roadshow spanning over 20 kilometres.

Kejriwal focused on slogans calling for people to vote for the broom during the three-hour long roadshow through Tughlaqabad to Govindpuri and from Harkesh Nagar to Dakshinpuri.

“On the eve of polling day, they (other political parties) will come to you with money. What will you do with the money,” he asked the crowd at a Kalkaji slum.

“You must take the money from all of them. But who will you vote for,” he asked again. “Jhaadoo (the broom)”, the public responded loudly.