Arrest of rival to Indian Prime Minister sparks protests in New Delhi
23 March 2024, 10:44
Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest led to demonstrations as India prepares for a national election.
Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets in India’s capital for a second day, demanding the immediate release of one of the top rivals of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the country gears up for a national election next month.
Arvind Kejriwal, New Delhi’s top elected official and one of the country’s most significant politicians of the past decade, was arrested by the federal Enforcement Directorate on Thursday night.
The agency, controlled by Mr Modi’s government, accused his party and ministers of accepting one billion rupees (£9.5 million) in bribes from liquor contractors nearly two years ago.
His Aam Aadmi Party, or Common People’s Party, denied the accusations and said on Friday Kejriwal would remain Delhi’s chief minister as it took the matter to court.
Kejriwal was taken into custody for seven days following a court order on Friday.
His wife, Sunita, posted a message on behalf of her husband on the AAP party X account.
The message relayed Kerijwal as saying he was not surprised by the arrest as he has “struggled a lot”, and warning against “several forces within and outside India that are weakening the country”.
Chanting: “Kejriwal is Modi’s doom” and “Dictatorship won’t be tolerated,” protesters accused Mr Modi on Saturday of governing the country under a state of emergency – a claim the opposition has long professed – and using federal law enforcement agencies to stifle opposition parties before the election.
On Friday, hundreds of AAP supporters and some senior party leaders clashed with the police, who whisked a number of them away in buses.
In the lead-up to the general election, starting on April 19, India’s opposition parties have accused the government of misusing its power to harass and weaken its political opponents, pointing to a spree of raids, arrests and corruption investigations against key opposition figures.
Meanwhile, some probes against erstwhile opposition leaders who later defected to Mr Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have been dropped.
Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, denies targeting the opposition and says law enforcement agencies act independently.
Kejriwal’s AAP is part of a broad alliance of opposition parties called INDIA, the main challenger to the BJP in the coming election.
His arrest is another setback for the bloc, and came after the country’s main opposition Congress party accused the government on Thursday of freezing its bank accounts in a tax dispute to cripple it.
This has led to a rare show of strength by the opposition figures who slammed the move as undemocratic and accused Mr Modi’s party of misusing the agency to undermine them.
In 2023, the agency arrested Kejriwal’s deputy, Manish Sisodia, and AAP legislator Sanjay Singh as part of the same case. Both remain in jail.
