The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday alleged that Delhi Police had turned party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s residence into a fortress ahead of the Cockroach Janata Party’s protest at Jantar Mantar.

Kejriwal on Friday said that he and his family will attend the protest and urged youngsters to join the demonstration for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged “vote theft”.

The party’s Delhi unit president Bharadwaj said protesters wanted to raise their concerns in a “non-violent” manner, but the heavy deployment of security personnel was creating an atmosphere of fear.

“You cannot make Gen-Z keep quiet by force– these are our youth; talk to them, engage with them. BJP government wants to show that we are a scared country. We are not; we believe in non-violence and the Constitution of India,” Bharadwaj said in a video message.

The government has responded to the protest call by casting a security net across central Delhi, deploying thousands of boots on the ground to detain the agitators or deter them from reaching the Jantar Mantar site.

The Delhi Metro shut down the entry and exit at 45 stations from 9 pm on Friday until 6 pm on Saturday.

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