The investigation into potential corruption in the issuance of private liquor licenses led to the detention of Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of the capital of India and a pivotal figure in an opposition alliance that would oppose Prime Minister Modi in the polls scheduled for next month.
The leading politician in New Delhi, the capital of India, was detained in a graft investigation that his allies claim is intended to discredit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rivals before the country’s elections.
Following several hours of questioning by the Enforcement Directorate, India’s primary financial crimes agency, Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi and a pivotal figure in an opposition alliance aimed at opposing Modi in the polls scheduled for next month, was taken into custody on Thursday.
Two of Kejriwal’s closest allies have already been imprisoned as a result of an investigation into the government’s alleged wrongdoing in the issuance of private liquor licenses. Kejriwal is an anti-graft activist himself.
Atishi Marlena Singh, the minister of education in Delhi, confirmed the arrest while stating that Kejriwal remained the chief minister of the capital.
“We made it clear from the beginning that if needed, Arvind Kejriwal will run the government from jail,” she stated.
She said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power under Modi, was behind the “political conspiracy” that led to his imprisonment.
“I want to tell Prime Minister Modi that Arvind Kejriwal is not just a human but an idea,” Singh stated. “If you think that by arresting one Arvind Kejriwal you can finish that idea, you are wrong.”
worries about democratic standards
In order to abolish a government monopoly and liberalize the selling of alcohol, Kejriwal’s administration proposed a contentious policy in 2021 that allowed private companies to open stores.
Following the policy’s withdrawal in 2022, two top members of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Tejriwal were imprisoned as part of an investigation into the purportedly corrupt license awarding process.
In the course of the investigation, Kejriwal had rejected several summonses to appear for questioning from the Enforcement Directorate.
He is one of several well-known opposition leaders who are being investigated for crimes, which his supporters claim have political motivations.
Following a complaint by a member of Modi’s party, Rahul Gandhi, the most well-known opposition Congress party member and the scion of a political family that ruled India for decades, was found guilty of criminal libel last year.
His two-year prison term sparked questions about democratic principles in the most populous country in the world and temporarily barred him from the parliament until a higher court suspended the conviction.
Congressmen announced at a news conference on Thursday that the party did not have the money to contest this year’s election because its bank accounts were frozen as a result of an ongoing inquiry into its tax filings.
An alliance has been formed by Kejriwal’s AAP, the Congress, and around twenty other parties to jointly contest the April–June national elections.
According to polls, Modi and the BJP have a great chance of winning a third term.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD
