{"id":4499,"date":"2024-03-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dwjqp1.com\/kejriwal-new-delhi-india-election-protests-modi-62fad3f22d15933fb252460577770307\/"},"modified":"2024-03-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T00:00:00","slug":"kejriwal-new-delhi-india-election-protests-modi-62fad3f22d15933fb252460577770307","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dwjqp1.com\/kejriwal-new-delhi-india-election-protests-modi-62fad3f22d15933fb252460577770307\/","title":{"rendered":"Protests against arrest of one of top rivals of Indian Prime Minister Modi continue for second day"},"content":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI (AP) \u2014 Hundreds of protesters in India\u2019s capital took to the streets for a second day Saturday, demanding the immediate release of one of the top rivals of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi<\/a>, as the country gears up for a national election<\/a> next month. <\/p>\n Arvind Kejriwal, New Delhi\u2019s top elected official and one of the country\u2019s most consequential politicians of the past decade, was arrested by the federal Enforcement Directorate Thursday night. The agency, controlled by Modi\u2019s government, accused his party and ministers of accepting 1 billion rupees ($12 million) in bribes from liquor contractors nearly two years ago.<\/p>\n His Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man\u2019s Party, denied the accusations and said Friday Kejriwal would remain Delhi\u2019s chief minister as it took the matter to court. <\/p>\n Kejriwal was taken into custody for seven days following a court order on Friday. <\/p>\n Kejriwal\u2019s wife, Sunita, had a message Saturday she said was from her detained husband. Posted on the AAP party X account, the message relayed Kerijwal as saying he wasn\u2019t surprised by the arrest for he has \u201cstruggled a lot\u201d and warning against \u201cseveral forces within and outside India that are weakening the country.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE<\/p>\n India has millions of dairy farmers. It\u2019s creating a methane problem that\u2019s tricky to solve<\/a><\/p>\n A Modi rival is arrested. Now, supporters of the opposition leader are protesting in India\u2019s capital<\/a><\/p>\n New Delhi\u2019s top elected official arrested in liquor bribery case<\/a><\/p>\n Chanting: \u201cKejriwal is Modi\u2019s doom\u201d and \u201cDictatorship won\u2019t be tolerated,\u201d protesters accused Modi on Saturday of governing the country under a state of emergency \u2014 a claim the opposition has long professed \u2014 and using federal law enforcement agencies to stifle opposition parties before the election.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n APP leader and chief minister of neighboring Punjab state, Bhagwant Mann, joined the protest alongside some cabinet ministers.<\/p>\n \u201c(Kejriwal\u2019a arrest) is a murder of democracy,\u201d Balbir Singh, Punjab\u2019s health minister told The Associated Press. \u201cFor opposition leaders, jail is the rule and bail is the exception,\u201d he added. Singh also accused Modi\u2019s ruling party to \u201chave turned the rule of law upside down.\u201d <\/p>\n Lily Tiga, a protester said when \u201ca person who does good, fights for truth, fights for the downtrodden and poor is arrested, it\u2019s not only unfortunate, it is a time to mourn for this country.\u201d<\/p>\n Some demonstrators tried to move the protest to the main street in central Delhi. But police, some in riot gear, blocked them and detained at least three dozen protesters.<\/p>\n On Friday, hundreds of AAP supporters and some senior party leaders clashed with the police, who whisked a number of them away in buses. <\/p>\n In the lead-up to the general election , starting April 19<\/a>, India\u2019s opposition parties have accused the government of misusing its power to harass and weaken its political opponents, pointing to a spree of raids, arrests and corruption investigations against key opposition figures. Meanwhile, some probes against erstwhile opposition leaders who later defected to Modi\u2019s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have been dropped.<\/p>\n Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, denies targeting the opposition and says law enforcement agencies act independently.<\/p>\n Kejriwal\u2019s AAP is part of a broad alliance of opposition parties called INDIA<\/a>, the main challenger to Modi\u2019s BJP in the coming election.<\/a><\/p>\n His arrest is another setback for the bloc<\/a>, and came after the country\u2019s main opposition Congress party accused the government Thursday of freezing its bank accounts<\/a> in a tax dispute to cripple it. This has led to a rare show of strength by the opposition figures who slammed the move as undemocratic and accused Modi\u2019s party of misusing the agency to undermine them.<\/p>\n In 2023, the agency arrested Kejriwal\u2019s deputy, Manish Sisodia, and AAP lawmaker Sanjay Singh as part of the same case. Both remain in jail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NEW DELHI (AP) \u2014 Hundreds of protesters in India\u2019s capital took to the streets for a second day Saturday, demanding the immediate release of one of the top rivals of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the country gears up for a national election next month. Arvind Kejriwal, New Delhi\u2019s top elected official and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[2751,293,294,53,1590,1837,1087,408],"yoast_head":"\n
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