INDIA Bloc Stands United Behind Arvind Kejriwal

Kejriwal arrest | INDIA bloc leaders respond to Delhi chef minister’s arrest

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the second Chief Minister from the INDIA bloc to be arrested in the recent months has united the anti-BJP coalition which has been struggling to set aside their differences over seat sharing arrangements. The opposition leaders questioned the timing, with the Model Code of Conduct in place and the coincidence of it coming on the same day as Election Commission publishing the entire data on electoral bonds.  

Live Updates | Arvind Kejriwal arrest

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and his predecessor Rahul Gandhi expressed their outrage without naming Mr. Kejriwal. Mr. Kharge, connecting Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest to the freezing of Congress party’s accounts, wrote on X, that the BJP is trying to weaken the opposition, because though it has been making false claims of victory each day, it is scared of the expected results.

Mr. Gandhi, in similar vein posted on X, “A scared dictator wants to create a dead democracy. If capturing all the institutions including the media, breaking up parties, extorting money from companies, freezing the accounts of the main opposition party was not enough for the “Asuri Shakti” (demonic power) now the arrest of the elected Chief Ministers has also become a common thing.” 

Party’s General Secretary K.C. Venugopal called the arrest a “diversionary tactic” on a day when complete data on electoral bonds was released, which he said, will expose BJP’s “extortion racket.”

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, said that the opposition is going into this election with its “hands and feet tied” and on a “playing field that is far from level.” He posted on X, “If a model code of conduct exits to prevent the government from taking decisions that could favour the ruling party, why would a similar code not apply to government departments like IT and ED, whose actions are directly interfering with the functioning of democracy?”