Shaheen Bagh protest: Manoj Tiwari says Kejriwal ignored plight of people

The Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to play the "inconvenience" card over the Shaheen Bagh protest, which has blocked the Delhi-Noida road for more than a month.

While hearing a plea against the protest, the Delhi High Court had asked the authorities to keep "larger public interest" in mind.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari in a video has "appealed" protesters to call off the agitation, and also trained his guns at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly "ignoring plight of lakhs of people facing inconvenience because of the protest."

Tiwari said, "I am making this video because I am distressed. Lakhs of people in the city are facing inconvenience everyday because of the protest at Shaheen Bagh. They are forced to complete a 25-minute journey in two-three hours."

Tiwari, whose party has been championing the cause of religious minorities facing persecution in three neighbouring countries, seems to have found a reason to question Kejriwal's "silence" on the "plight of daily commuters", who too are going to vote in the February 8 Delhi Assembly polls.

The video was tweeted by Tiwari under the banner: "What has happened to my Delhi? This is an appeal to all brothers and sisters, protesting at Shaheen Bagh against the CAA."

The Shaheen Bagh protest that has blocked the road that connects Delhi to neighbouring cities, like Faridabad and Noida, has become a nightmare for commuters. The DND highway, supposed to be a bypass, is crippled with traffic, for more than a month. Many of these commuters, regardless of their stand on the CAA, have taken to social media to vent their frustration at the blockade.

Tiwari has taken up the commuters' "cause" to target Kejriwal to garner votes of fence-sitters.

The court had said, "We hereby direct the concerned respondent authorities (police) to look into the grievances ventilated by the petitioner...about the restrictions on usage of the road, known as Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch, that is, Road No. 13A (between Mathura Road and Kalindi Kunj) as well as the Okhla underpass, and react in accordance with law, rules, regulations and government policies, applicable to the present case."