Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest: CPI(M), Congress stage street protests in Kerala

Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) dramatic arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has galvanised the ruling front and the Opposition in Kerala into taking to the streets in protest against what the rival fronts view as “an egregious and unprecedented attack on Indian democracy and federalism.”

The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) dramatic arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal late on March 21 has galvanised the ruling front and the Opposition in Kerala into taking to the streets on March 22 (Friday) morning in protest against what the rival fronts view as “an egregious and unprecedented attack on Indian democracy and federalism.”

The leaders of the rival alliances also portrayed Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest ahead of the Lok Sabha elections as “an ominous, dead-of-the-night knock on democracy’s door” that portended badly for the country’s polity.

In Kannur, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] activists burned Prime Minister Narendra Modi in effigy.

CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan, who led the protesters, said Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest “foretold a backsliding into the dark days of the Emergency.”

Mr. Govindan noted that the country’s electorate would brush aside “the dark clouds of authoritarianism” threatening democracy. “Mr. Kejriwal will emerge stronger from the prison,” he said.

In Thiruvananthapuram, Congress Working Committee member and the party’s Lok Sabha candidate from Thiruvananthapuram constituency, Shashi Tharoor, MP, led a protest march to Raj Bhavan to spotlight the “attack on democracy”.

He said the rival fronts in Kerala were “united in their opposition” to the BJP’s brazen attempt to use Constitutional agencies to tilt the electoral field in favour of the Sangh Parivar-controlled Central government by arresting leaders and squeezing Opposition parties’ campaign finances.