Public Backlash Forces New Delhi Chief into Embarrassing Protest Climbdown

Arvind Kejriwal ends his much-criticized sit-in outside the Indian Parliament to demand police reform after criticism from voters and media

New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called off his ten-day street protest on Tuesday evening after an appeal from Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, the central government’s representative in the Indian capital.

 

Kejriwal, the head of the Aam Aadmi Part (AAP), had been leading an unprecedented and much criticized sit-in near the Indian Parliament since Monday. He was demanding the suspension of three police officials who had run-ins with his ministers. The government agreed to partially meet his demands and dispatched two of the officers on leave.

The face-saving deal, many say, was the perfect escape for Kejriwal, whose eccentric actions had not gone down well with ordinary people in the sprawling Indian capital.

His two-day demonstration had snarled traffic in the city, forced the shutdown of major metro stations and would have disrupted India’s grand Republic Day parade on Sunday, adversely affecting his standing among the Indian middle classes.

The sit-in, which trended on social media with #AAPdrama, included Kejriwal sleeping on the pavement on Monday night. But even then only some 1,000 people gathered at his protest site.

Posted in: Economic Times,Emaar,Emaar Mgf,Hindustan Times,Palm drive Mgf,Shravan Gupta,Shravan Gupta Emaar MGF,Shravan Gupta Mgf,The Hindu,The hindustan times,Times of india