The Aryavarth Express
Agency(New Delhi): On Tuesday, the Indian capital witnessed a day of political unrest as police detained scores of opposition supporters who were trying to march to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence. The protesters were voicing their discontent over the recent arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Kejriwal, a prominent opposition leader whose Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been governing the national capital territory for the past decade, was arrested by the financial crime-fighting agency on corruption charges related to the city’s liquor policy. The arrest comes just weeks before India is set to begin voting in the general elections on April 19.
The Enforcement Directorate has remanded Kejriwal to custody until March 28, with the agency’s lawyer arguing that he was the “kingpin” in the case and needed to be interrogated. AAP, whose main leaders are now all imprisoned in connection with the case, maintains that Kejriwal has been “falsely arrested” in a “fabricated case”. The federal government and Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) deny any political interference.
On Tuesday, Kejriwal’s supporters attempted to march to Modi’s residence but were stopped by police about 5 km (3 miles) away from their destination. Television visuals showed several protesters sitting on the ground and chanting slogans as police personnel tried to haul them into buses.
In another part of the city, police used water cannons to disperse BJP supporters trying to march to the Delhi Secretariat to demand Kejriwal’s resignation, and detained some of them. State BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva told news agency ANI, “The chief minister of Delhi is corrupt and dishonest … he will have to resign.”
AAP leaders, however, insisted that Kejriwal would not resign and that protests demanding his release would continue. Delhi’s Environment Minister Gopal Rai told reporters, “I want to tell the federal government, this fight, this movement, will not stop because of the force of your police, this voice is reaching the entire nation.”
Multiple metro stations were closed “until further notice” due to “security reasons”, according to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s message on the platform X on Tuesday morning. Delhi Police also issued a notice warning that traffic would be affected “in view of special Law & Order arrangement” in the city.
AAP is part of the ‘INDIA’ bloc, an alliance of more than two dozen political parties formed last year to jointly challenge the BJP in the general elections. The group plans to hold a joint rally in Delhi on March 31 to protest against Kejriwal’s arrest, hoping to renew their unity after bickering and failed attempts at sharing seats to field common candidates against the BJP.
The arrest of the high-profile Kejriwal, whose party also rules the northern Indian state of Punjab, has drawn international attention, with Germany and the U.S. appealing for a “fair” and “impartial” trial in the case in line with “basic democratic principles”.
The ongoing political turmoil in Delhi highlights the heightened tensions between the opposition and the ruling party in the run-up to the general elections, with Kejriwal’s arrest serving as a major flashpoint in the battle for political supremacy.