Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday night in an excise policy case. The arrest of AAP national convenor triggered attacks by the opposition parties led by Congress, JMM, DMK and AIDMK. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeted the Modi government, saying a scared dictator wants to create a dead democracy.
"A scared dictator wants to create a dead democracy. While capturing all the institutions including the media, breaking up the parties, extorting money from companies, freezing the account of the main opposition party was not enough for the 'devilish power', now the arrest of the elected Chief Ministers has also become a common thing. INDIA will give a befitting reply to this," the Congress leader wrote in Hindi on X.
Rajya Sabha MP and JMM leader Mahua Maji said, "Wherever there is non-BJP govt, these things are happening in those states only. Elections are going to be held, model code of conduct is in place but the way things are going on, firstly in Jharkhand and then in Delhi, this isn't democracy but a preparation for autocracy..."
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal clearly shows that instead of fighting the opposition democratically, the BJP wants to fight the elections under the cover.
"The NDA government has imposed an undeclared emergency on the country, violating political, democratic and constitutional morality and dignity. We all stand firmly with the extremely popular government of the people of Delhi. As we all had openly declared from Patna and Mumbai – we are not people who are afraid but people who fight and win," he added.
Saravanan Annadurai, DMK spokesperson said it was on expected lines and he (PM Modi) wants to divert the attention of the common man from the mega scam, the biggest loot, the extortion racket that the BJP has run (Electoral Bond).
"The High Court questioned the ED that what is the evidence that they had got to go behind Arvind Kejriwal. They (ED) sought time in the court and now come knocking at his doors. We hope the Supreme Court will intervene to ensure that democracy prevails," she added.
Reacting to the development, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are in "panic" over their impending rejection by people in the Lok Sabha polls.
"Strongly condemn the arrest of Delhi CM, Shri Arvind Kejriwal by the ED.
It's the second sitting CM of the INDIA bloc to be arrested," Yechury said in a post on X.
The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) questioned the arrest at a time when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in place.
"The election process has begun. And now this! Chiefs of political parties, CMs, political leaders, election agents, workers, every opponent being harassed and arrested like this. What will be the fate of our precious democracy," the TMC's Parliamentary Party leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien said in a post on X.
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav said Kejriwal's arrest "will give birth to a new people's revolution".
"Those who are themselves imprisoned in the fear of defeat, what will they achieve by imprisoning someone else? BJP knows that it will not come to power again and because of 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," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said in a post on X.
People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said Kejriwal's arrest reeks of political vendetta and growing authoritarianism.
"The arbitrary arrest of yet another CM by ED reeks of political vendetta and growing authoritarianism," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said in a post on X.
She claimed that the arrest has exposed the BJP's fears and accused the saffron party of trying to manipulate the Lok Sabha polls even before the voting.
Also read: AAP stages protests amid heavy security, says he will remain CM
