Protests not unexpected, says Arvind Kejriwal; police tighten security

Varanasi: With Arvind Kejriwal facing wrath of protesters time and again, local police here has decided to further increase its security arrangements for his poll campaign and is keeping a close watch on a 24-hour basis.

The Aam Aadmi Party chief was again interrupted by protesters raising pro-Modi slogans when he went out for a 'morning walk' meeting at Company Bagh here on Friday.

A large group of protesters shouted 'Har Har Modi' and other slogans in support of BJP prime ministerial candidate and called the former Delhi Chief Minister a 'bhagoda' who has come here after fleeing from Delhi.

Kejriwal, however, wrote these protesters off calling them "young boys who are on the wrong path" and said there has to be a scope for non-agreement. He said that such protests were not unexpected as he was challenging "biggest vested interests in the country" and offered to sit with the protesting "boys" to discuss their complaints against him.

Senior AAP leader Anand Kumar also downplayed the protest, saying this was a small group of people and no large-scale opposition was there for the party.

Kejriwal and other AAP leaders also undertook a march on Friday to reach out to the people, for which police made increased security provisions, although a crowd of people shouting slogans against him also moved along with them.

The former Delhi Chief Minister urged his supporters to maintain peace and not to indulge in any violence.

Kejriwal is in the fray against BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, which will go to poll on May 12 in the last phase of elections.

Last night the AAP leader got stuck in a huge crowd of angry protesters shouting pro-Modi slogans and he could be whisked away only after police used mild force to disperse the mob.

The local police has asked AAP to share detailed schedule of their campaigns so that necessary security arrangements can be made at every place he visits at any time, a senior officer said, adding that Kejriwal has been often moving away from his declared itinerary and moving around without the knowledge of police personnel accompanying him for security.

Besides police personnel, local intelligence unit officers are also keeping a close watch on every movement of Kejriwal, although he has been able to dodge them quite a few times, admitted one of the personnel in his security cordon.