NEW DELHI: Top leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) gathered at Jantar Mantar here on Sunday for a day-long fast to protest against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister and the party's national convener, Arvind Kejriwal.
Senior AAP leaders, including Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, Deputy Speaker Rakhi Bila, ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain, and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, attended the day-long 'Samuhik Upwas' at Jantar Mantar in the national capital from 11 am.
Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in an excise policy-linked money laundering case. He had been sent to judicial custody until April 15.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann joined a collective fast at freedom fighter Bhagat Singh's village, Khatkar Kalan.
Protests were also being held across the country and by Indians abroad, including at Harvard Square in Boston, the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, outside the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC, at Times Square in New York, Toronto, London and Melbourne, among others, party leaders said.
Speaking from the protest site, Sanjay Singh questioned under "what circumstances and pressure" was Kejriwal's name taken by the witnesses.
"The chargesheet has 50,000 pages. Out of these 456 witnesses, only four have taken the name of Arvind Kejriwal Under what circumstances and pressure did he take the name of Arvind Kejriwal?" he asked.
"Show me where it is written that if an honest Chief Minister is put in jail on false charges, then he has to submit his resignation. AAP leaders have not been getting bail for the past year," the AAP MP added.
Speaking from Bhagat Singh's village, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said the opposition is being "oppressed" and added that the BJP is scared of the challenge posed by the AAP. He also added that the protest wasn't to show political strength but to "convey a message against dictatorship."
"BR Ambedkar gave us the Constitution, and the Constitution is in danger today... They (BJP) jail whoever they want. The voice of the opposition is being oppressed. If they trust themselves, then why are they putting opposition leaders behind bars? They are scared that AAP will pose a challenge to them in the coming times," he said.
Meanwhile, Atishi said the probing agencies were unable to show the money trail linking AAP leaders and alleged that the trail had been done by liquor trader Sharat Reddy to the BJP.
"People of Delhi love Arvind Kejriwal. They don't think of him as a CM but as their son, or brother. We all want bail for Arvind Kejriwal. BJP's ED and CBI haven't been able to show a single penny of liquor scam from the leaders of AAP. If there is any money trail in this issue, it's from liquor trader Sharat Reddy to the BJP," Atishi said.
"Sharat Reddy donated 55 crores to the BJP... Why the BJP has not been raided or accused, Why has the BJP's National President not been summoned or arrested? ED and CBI act as political weapons of the BJP," the AAP minister said.
The AAP's Delhi unit convener, Gopal Rai, 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 was part of the BJP's conspiracy to finish the AAP.
The AAP had issued the call for a nationwide collective fast to protest the arrest of Kejriwal. On Sunday, protests condemning his detention were held in Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.
AAP members gathered at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai to mark their protest. In Pune and other cities in Maharashtra, the AAP workers staged the day-long protest at public places. In cities like Pune, some leaders of the opposition Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) also joined the AAP's protest.
Kejriwal was arrested by the central agency on charges of corruption in relation to a case related to the Delhi excise policy. It is the first time in independent India that a serving Chief Minister has been arrested. The move came after Kejriwal skipped multiple summons by the investigation agency, nine in total, calling them "illegal."
The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi excise policy 2022, which was later scrapped.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
