AAP leaders hold collective fast in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to protest against Kejriwal’s arrest

New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) Top Aam Aadmi Party leaders held a day-long fast at Jantar Mantar here on Sunday to protest against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and accused the BJP of resorting to dictatorship. Several party volunteers and supporters took part in the fast in the national capital, singing patriotic songs and waving posters showing an image of Kejriwal behind bars. Similar protests were held in other states as well as by Indians abroad, including at Harvard Square in Boston, the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, outside the Indian Embassy in Washington DC, in New York Times Square and Toronto, London and Melbourne among others, party leaders said.

Senior AAP leaders, including Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, Deputy Speaker Rakhi Bila, ministers Gopal Rai, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kailash Gahlot and Imran Hussain attended the day-long ‘Samuhik Upwas’ at Jantar Mantar from 11 am. Addressing the protesters at Jantar Mantar, the AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Delhi excise scam case, asserted “Kejriwal was, is and will remain honest.” He questioned Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate, claiming the AAP national convener’s name was mentioned by just four of 456 witnesses of the CBI and ED probing the case. “People know very well under what situation these witnesses named Kejriwal,” Singh said.

He called upon AAP volunteers to work harder to ensure the victory of party candidates and those of the INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha polls to pave the way for the exit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah from power. Delhi Minister Atishi accused the BJP of resorting to dictatorship and claimed the fast by the AAP will give “sleepless nights” to the saffron party. There was anger among people over Kejriwal’s arrest and it will prove to be the “final nail in the coffin” of the BJP, she claimed. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and several ministers in AAP-ruled Punjab joined a collective fast at freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s village Khatkar Kalan, party leaders said.

The AAP’s Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai had appealed to people to join the fast to protest against Kejriwal’s arrest. He alleged that Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a case linked to the Delhi excise policy-linked scam case was part of the BJP’s conspiracy to finish the AAP. Kejriwal, arrested on March 21, is in judicial custody till April 15.