Saying that he was disappointed with the situation where women who had brought honor to the country had to go to the Supreme Court just to get an FIR registered for alleged sexual harassment, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed his support for the wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar.

He criticized the central government for protecting the president of the Wrestling Federation of India, who is also a BJP MP, and who has been accused of sexual harassment by the female wrestlers.

Kejriwal stated that anyone who misbehaves with a woman or a girl child should face the strictest punishment according to Indian law, even hanging for serious crimes. He highlighted that the victims in this case were not just ordinary women, but sportswomen who had worked extremely hard to bring honor to the nation. He expressed his shame that a politician had misbehaved with them and that they had to protest to make their voices heard and to register an FIR.

Kejriwal urged the central government not to cut off the water and power supply at the protest site and called on people from all political parties to join the wrestlers in their struggle. He assured the protesters that he would do whatever he could to support them as the Chief Minister of Delhi. AAP Rajya Sabha member Sushil Gupta, mayor Shelly Oberoi, and several MLAs and senior party members accompanied him.

The CM also claimed that during an interaction with a senior citizen, he had learned that the elderly supporter of PM Narendra Modi had changed his views about the central government after seeing the protesting wrestlers on television.

He maintained that the message being sent by the Prime Minister to the nation was clear: no case would be registered against any BJP leader. He referenced the incident in Lakhimpur Kheri when farmers were protesting against the three farm bills and a BJP leader’s son had run over four farmers and a journalist. Kejriwal alleged that the BJP had used all its political power to protect the accused. He criticized the fact that now, one of their leaders had misbehaved with female wrestlers, and the party was once again using its power to save him. He stated that the message being conveyed was that the BJP would protect any of its members who engaged in wrongdoing and mistreated women.

Kejriwal emphasized that these wrestlers were not fighting for themselves but for the preservation of the country’s sporting culture. On Twitter, he made a reference to former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and claimed that PM Modi had put the man who had provided education to underprivileged children behind bars while protecting the man who had misbehaved with women.

Kejriwal regarded Jantar Mantar as a sacred space and recalled how in 2011, Anna Hazare had initiated a struggle against the then government, which eventually resulted in the birth of AAP.