Constituents of the INDIA Bloc and the other non-BJP political parties strongly condemned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest on Thursday and claimed that the BJP is scared of the outcome of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and acting out of panic to create problems for the opposition.
Interestingly, the Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress, which is no more part of the INDIA bloc and has already announced her candidates for Lok Sabha, party leaders rushed to Delhi to be part of the Opposition meeting related to Kejriwal who are planning to knock the doors of Nirvachan Sadan.
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien questioned the timing of the arrest, when the Model Code of Conduct is in place. He alleged that as the poll process has begun, every opposition party is being harassed.
“How can we expect fair elections in India if sitting CMs and prominent opposition leaders are arrested weeks before polls? If SC and ECI fail to act now, who will stand with people against BJP’s oppressive politics in future?” O’Brien asked.
While Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the “arrogant” BJP is making false claims of victory every day and trying to weaken the opposition by indulging in “illegal means” ahead of the parliamentary polls, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi alleged that a “scared dictator” wants to create a dead democracy and said the INDIA bloc will give a befitting reply to such designs.
“While capturing all the institutions, including the media, breaking up parties, extorting money from companies, freezing the accounts of the main opposition party were not enough for the ‘devilish power’, now the arrest of elected chief ministers has also become a common thing,” Rahul Gandhi said adding “INDIA will give a befitting reply to this,” he added.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said ahead of Elections 2024, driven by fear of a decade of failures and the imminent defeat, the fascist BJP govt sinks to despicable depths by arresting Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, following the unjust targeting of brother Hemant Soren.”
NCP leader Sharad Pawar condemned the “vindictive misuse of central agencies to target the opposition, especially as general elections loom”. “This arrest showcases the depth to which BJP will stoop for power. ‘INDIA’ stands united against this unconstitutional action against Arvind Kejriwal,” he said. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are in “panic” over their impending rejection by people in the upcoming polls. “It’s the second sitting CM of the INDIA bloc to be arrested. Clearly, Modi and the BJP are in panic over people’s rejection in the ongoing elections,” he said. CPI general secretary D Raja said the BJP’s desperation ahead of the general election is on full display.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said “with the political arrest of another sitting CM, Arvind Kejriwal, the BJP government, its Extended Department have made it clear that they aren’t anywhere close to winning 400 seats”.
While Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said Kejriwal’s arrest “will give birth to a new people’s revolution”, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said Kejriwal’s arrest reeks of political vendetta and growing authoritarianism. “The arbitrary arrest of yet another CM by ED reeks of political vendetta and growing authoritarianism,” she said in a social media post.
