Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday held Prime Minister Narendra Modi accountable for the prolonged agitation of the wrestlers and accused him of protecting the BJP parliamentarian who has been accused of sexual assault by the grapplers.

Kejriwal spoke at the protest site, flanked by wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshee Malikkh and Bajrang Punia. The AAP leader said: “Two days back an elderly person came to me and said, ‘Modiji has not done right…. I used to be a devotee of Modiji. But when I see these poor girls on Jantar Mantar struggling to get an FIR filed against that sinful person… then I wonder why Modiji is protecting him...’ It is beyond my understanding why the entire system, central government, the PM are all busy protecting him.”

Kejriwal, who has had to apologise in court in a defamation case in the past, did not name Wrestling Federation of India president and BJP MP Singh, whose ouster and arrest the wrestlers are demanding.

Kejriwal appeared to be referring to the mowing down of protesting farmers by a jeep allegedly driven by Union junior minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri in 2021.

The chief minister said: “The message is that if anyone from their party even commits murder, then an FIR won’t be filed against him. Doyou remember what happened to the farmers? He had run over farmers. The whole system was out to protect him. Today this man does wrong things with girls and the whole system is trying to protect him.”

Comparing the wrestlers’ protest to the AAP’s anti-corruption agitation at the same place in 2011, Kejriwal said: “Jantar Mantar is sacred ground. We came from here. In 2011, Anna Hazare came here and that movement changed the politics of this country. Today, I tell you that the movement by these children will transform the sports establishment of this country.”

He promised support and called for intensifying the protest.

“All those who love this country, be they from the Congress or the BJP or AAP or any other party, should take leave and come here. Support them. They’re not fighting for themselves, (they are fighting) for the whole sports world,” said the AAP leader.

Referring to alleged police harassment of the protesters on Friday, Kejriwal said: “I request the Centre not to be heartless. Their water and electricity have been stopped, you are not allowing them to bring mattresses. I will do whatever I can as the CM of Delhi…. This is human rights, this is humanism.”

The Delhi police report to the Centre.

Students’ support

A section of the students of Lucknow University has come forward in support of the wrestlers on dharna at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Over 200 students took out a procession on Saturday and chanted “BJP murdabad”, “Brij Bhushan Sharan murdabad” and declared that they would raised a bigger protest “if justice is delayed to the wrestlers”.

On Friday, over 500 students had organised a dharna on the campus and courted arrest. They were released later.

Rajesh Pratap Singh, a student of MA at Lucknow university, said: “We cannot allow the government to victimise our Olympians and other players. Brij Bhushan is a muscleman and the Modi government fears him, but we don’t fear goons. Our wrestlers are on dharna in New Delhi but Modi is not ready to take action against him just because there is one Lok Sabha seat in his hand. Modi’s hypocrisy is there before the country.”