New Delhi
AAP minister Atishi criticized the Centre for the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and announced that the INDIA bloc would hold a rally on March 31 to show support. Kejriwal was remanded to ED custody until March 28 following his arrest on March 21 in connection with a money laundering case related to the alleged liquor policy scam.
Atishi emphasized that the rally aims not just to defend Kejriwal but to safeguard democracy itself. She highlighted the pattern of opposition leaders being targeted and jailed, even during election periods, while opposition party bank accounts are frozen, posing a threat to India’s democratic principles.
Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, and the DMK, expressed solidarity with Kejriwal. Rahul Gandhi criticized what he saw as attempts to weaken democracy by suppressing opposition voices. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge condemned Kejriwal’s arrest as an attempt to undermine the opposition before the Lok Sabha elections.
Akhilesh Yadav criticized government institutions like the ED, CBI, and income tax for allegedly serving the government’s interests rather than upholding democratic values. He accused these institutions of filing false cases against opposition leaders, raising concerns about their impartiality in a democracy.
