“Your Kejriwal is a lion, wouldn’t be in jail for long: Wife Sunita roars at INDIA rally
New Delhi [India], March 31 (ANI) Amid the protests and political showdown around her husband’s arrest in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case, Sunita Kejriwal, wife of the embattled chief minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, assured party workers that he was as valiant as a lion and wouldn’t be in jail for long. Addressing party workers at a mega show of strength of the AAP and its partners in the INDIA bloc to rally support for CM Kejriwal, his wife said, “Your Kejriwal is a lion, they (BJP-led Centre) will not be able to keep him in custody for long. He remains in the hearts of crores of people across the country.” The Delhi CM is currently in the custody of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) till April 1, Monday, in connection with the liquor policy case. In an emotional pitch to party supporters and people before reading a message from her husband, Sunita, a former Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, said, “Your very own Kejriwal has sent a message for you from custody. However, before reading out this message, I would like to ask you something. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi put my husband in custody. Do you all believe that he did the right thing? Do you believe that Kejriwal-ji is a true patriot and honest person? These BJP people are saying that since Kejriwal is in custody, he should resign. Do you all believe he should resign?” She added that the strong determination and courage with which she saw her husband fighting his arrest in the liquor case reminded her of the freedom fighters who made the ultimate sacrifice during the struggle for independence. “The courage with which he is fighting his arrest and for the people and the country often reminds me of the freedom fighters who died fighting for the country’s independence. Maybe Kejriwal was destined to wage this struggle for Bharat Ma,” she said. She then proceeded to read out six promises that Kejriwal said the INDIA bloc would fulfil if voted to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. These include 24×7 electricity supply across the country, free power supply for the poor, good government schools in every village and mohalla, MSP (minimum support price) for farmers in accordance with the Swaminathan Commission report and full statehood for Delhi. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 after several hours of questioning in connection with the excise policy case. All leading Opposition leaders on Sunday came together and shared the stage at the Ramlila Maidan to register their protest over Kejriwal’s arrest in the case. Speaking at the Maha Rally, senior AAP leader and Delhi minister Gopal Rai questioned the need to arrest Kejriwal, a sitting chief minister, in the liquor policy case. “Protests erupted across the country since his arrest on March 21. No one has a clue yet why a sitting CM had to be arrested. But it isn’t about Kejriwal alone. Before arresting the Delhi CM, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren was arrested (in a land ‘scam’ case) as well. Such misuse of the ED and CBI (against Opposition leaders) has put our democracy in peril,” Rai said at the rally on Sunday. —
Indian opposition protest arrest of leader ahead of polls
Top leaders of India’s opposition coalition and thousands of supporters rallied in the capital Sunday, decrying “autocracy” in protest at the arrest of a senior colleague ahead of general elections. Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi and a key leader in an opposition alliance formed to compete against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was detained this month in connection with a long-running corruption probe. Kejriwal’s government is accused of receiving kickbacks while handing out liquor licences to private companies. Kejriwal, 55, denies the charges. “The country is headed towards autocracy,” Shiv Sena party leader Uddhav Thackeray, a former chief minister of Maharashtra state, told cheering crowds on Sunday. “This one-man government is taking the country to ruin.” Nearly a billion Indians will vote to elect a new government in six-week-long parliamentary elections starting on April 19, the largest democratic exercise in the world. Many analysts see Modi’s re-election under his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) banner as a foregone conclusion, partly due to the resonance of his assertive Hindu-nationalist politics with members of India’s majority faith. – ‘Under threat’ – Several leaders of the two dozen political parties of the INDIA opposition alliance — the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance — addressed the crowd. “This is a fight to save India,” Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi said. “If the BJP comes back to power, they will discard the constitution.” Kejriwal’s wife Sunita read out what she said was a message from the arrested leader. “I want us together to build a new India where there is justice for everyone,” she read. India’s main financial investigation agency, the Enforcement Directorate, which arrested Kejriwal, has launched probes into at least four other state chief ministers or their family members. While Modi enjoys high levels of support, critics accuse him of using law enforcement agencies to intimidate opposition leaders. All the investigations involve political opponents of Modi’s ruling BJP. Many in the flag-waving crowd were supporters of Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), or Common Man Party, who donned yellow tops with the image of their leader in jail. “We are here to express our support for Kejriwal, who has been arrested under a conspiracy,” said Sandeep Singh, 45, who drove overnight from Punjab, the Sikh-majority state north of Delhi that AAP controls. Congress supporter S.K. Vidhyarthi, 70, a retired teacher from Delhi, said “democracy in India is under threat”. “What has happened to Kejriwal today can happen to us tomorrow,” he said.
