Arvind Kejriwal: Delhi chief minister remanded to custody in corruption case
A court has mandated the detention of Arvind Kejriwal, a prominent Indian opposition figure and the Chief Minister of Delhi, following his apprehension on charges of corruption.
Kejriwal, who leads the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was taken into custody by India’s financial regulatory agency on Thursday. Despite asserting his innocence, Kejriwal’s arrest has been labeled as politically motivated by opposition figures.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) refutes these claims, asserting that the actions taken are part of a broader effort to combat corruption. Kejriwal appeared in a Delhi trial court on Friday afternoon.
Following his detention, his lawyer, Shadan Farasat, stated that they are deliberating on their next legal steps. Meanwhile, numerous AAP leaders have also been apprehended in the capital, with sporadic protests emerging across India in response to Kejriwal’s arrest, just weeks ahead of the general elections.
AAP leaders have vowed to persist with their protests, including staging one outside the Prime Minister’s residence, alleging that Kejriwal’s arrest aims to impede his election campaign.
This sentiment was echoed by Atishi, an AAP leader and Delhi’s Finance Minister, who criticized the move as an attempt to manipulate the electoral process.
Kejriwal’s arrest, orchestrated by a financial regulatory body, deals a significant blow to the opposition, particularly the AAP, which is part of the 27-party INDIA alliance seeking to challenge the BJP in the upcoming elections.
Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party, taking to social media, suggested that Kejriwal’s arrest is indicative of a despotic regime attempting to stifle democracy.
Similarly, Sharad Pawar, leader of the Nationalist Congress Party, condemned the BJP’s actions, portraying Kejriwal’s arrest as a manifestation of the party’s unscrupulous pursuit of power.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest would “give birth to a new people’s revolution”.
“BJP knows that it will not come to power again, due to this fear, it wants to remove the opposition leaders from the public by any means at the time of elections, arrest is just an excuse,” he posted on X.
Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister of Kerala, said Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest was “outright vicious and part of a callous plot to silence all opposition voices just ahead of the general elections”.
His counterpart in Tamil Nadu, M K Stalin, said: “Not a single BJP leader faces scrutiny or arrest, laying bare their abuse of power and the decay of democracy.”
“The relentless persecution of opposition leaders by the BJP government smacks of a desperate witch-hunt. This tyranny ignites public fury, unmasking BJP’s true colors,” Mr. Stalin said.
In the past year or so, several opposition leaders have been imprisoned, questioned or had cases filed against them by federal agencies.
K Kavitha, leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), was arrested in the same case as Mr Kejriwal just days ago. She denies the allegations.
In January, Hemant Soren, former Jharkhand chief minister and leader of the opposition Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), was arrested by a federal tax agency on charges of money laundering and land-grabbing. Mr Soren denies the allegations.
Mr Gandhi himself was convicted of criminal libel last year after a complaint by a member of the BJP.
His two-year prison sentence saw him disqualified from parliament for a time until the verdict was suspended by a higher court in August last year.
On Thursday, the Congress party accused Mr Modi’s government of using the tax department to starve them of finances ahead of elections.
Mr Kejriwal is the third AAP leader to be arrested over the alleged corruption case related to a now-scrapped liquor policy in Delhi.
The Enforcement Directorate also arrested Mr Kejriwal’s deputy, Manish Sisodia, and AAP lawmaker Sanjay Singh in the same case last year.
Since coming to power in Delhi in 2013, AAP secured significant victories in Punjab’s state elections in 2022 and gained a few seats in Mr Modi’s home state of Gujarat in the same year.
