Scores of members of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have been detained in New Delhi, and sporadic protests flared up throughout India on Friday in opposition to the arrest of AAP’s high chief for corruption, simply weeks forward of common elections.
India’s anti-corruption company arrested Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, on Thursday over allegations associated to town’s liquor coverage.
Kejriwal’s arrest, coming lower than a month earlier than India’s voting begins on April 19, offers a blow to AAP and the broader opposition alliance, of which he’s a key determine.
All main leaders of his 10-year-old occasion are at present in jail in reference to the liquor case.
AAP members, together with some ministers within the Delhi metropolis authorities, have been stopped by police and brought away in buses as they shouted slogans and tried to march towards town court docket the place Kejriwal is anticipated to look, in accordance with tv footage.
Atishi, an AAP chief and Delhi’s finance minister who goes by one title, claimed that Kejriwal’s arrest was a ploy to forestall him from campaigning within the common elections.
“This is a way to steal elections,” she stated in a press release.
AAP supporters additionally protested within the northern state of Punjab, the opposite state dominated by the occasion, staging sit-ins, shouting slogans, and holding placards that learn “I am also Kejriwal.”
“They can jail Kejriwal but they can’t jail his thoughts,” one AAP supporter advised the India Today TV channel.
Opposition underneath strain
AAP activists additionally staged protests within the jap state of Odisha, the western state of Gujarat, and in Srinagar, the summer time capital of the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“BJP wants to distract people’s attention from their corrupt practices,” AAP’s Odisha convener Nishikanta Mohapatra advised reporters, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“BJP knows that an honest leader like Arvind Kejriwal is capable of defeating them. This is why they arrested him,” Mohapatra stated.
Kejriwal’s legal professionals had petitioned the Supreme Court in opposition to his arrest however withdrew it on Friday, saying they’d struggle it within the metropolis court docket first.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating allegations {that a} liquor coverage carried out by the Delhi authorities in 2022, which ended its management over the sale of liquor, gave undue benefits to non-public retailers.
The coverage was subsequently withdrawn, and the AAP authorities has stated no proof of wrongdoing has emerged within the investigation.
AAP is a part of the 27-member “INDIA” bloc, which has dismissed graft investigations in opposition to a number of opposition leaders as a politically motivated smear marketing campaign by the BJP, which runs the federal authorities that controls the Enforcement Directorate.
The federal authorities and BJP deny any political interference and say regulation enforcement businesses are doing their job.
Opposition leaders have condemned Kejriwal’s arrest and accused Modi of in search of to squeeze and weaken the opposition forward of the elections.
On Thursday, the primary opposition Congress occasion accused Modi of crippling it earlier than the upcoming common election by freezing its accounts in an revenue tax case – expenses BJP denied.
“The question is, is Arvind Kejriwal above the law of the land? Can he indulge in corruption and not face investigative agencies?” federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur posted on X. “The truth is before the country.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com