Indian opposition supporters detained ahead of protest at Modi's home
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[March 26, 2024]
By Sakshi Dayal
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Police in the Indian capital detained dozens of
opposition supporters on Tuesday as they attempted to march to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's residence to protest against last week's arrest
of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Kejriwal, a key opposition leader whose Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has
governed the national capital territory for a decade, was arrested by
the financial crime-fighting agency on corruption charges relating to
the city's liquor policy, weeks before India begins voting in general
elections on April 19.
He was remanded to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate until
March 28, with the lawyer for the agency arguing he was the "kingpin" in
the case and needed to be interrogated.
Kejriwal's party, all of whose main leaders are now imprisoned in
connection with the case, says he has been "falsely arrested" in a
"fabricated case". The federal government and Modi's Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) deny political interference.
On Tuesday, Kejriwal's supporters attempted to march to Modi's
residence, but were stopped by police at a location where they gathered
about 5 km (3 miles) away.
Television visuals showed several protesters sitting on the ground and
chanting slogans as police personnel tried to haul them into buses.
Elsewhere in the city, police used water cannon to disperse BJP
supporters trying to march to the Delhi Secretariat to demand Kejriwal's
resignation, and detained some of them.
"The chief minister of Delhi is corrupt and dishonest ... he will have
to resign," state BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva told news agency ANI.
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Police detain supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) during a
protest after the party's main leader and Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED),
India's financial crime agency, in New Delhi, India March 26, 2024.
REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
AAP leaders said Kejriwal would not resign and protests demanding
his release would continue.
"I want to tell the federal government, this fight, this movement,
will not stop because of the force of your police, this voice is
reaching the entire nation," Delhi's Environment Minister Gopal Rai
told reporters.
Multiple metro stations were closed "until further notice" due to
"security reasons", the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said on
messaging platform X on Tuesday morning.
Delhi Police issued a notice warning traffic would be affected "in
view of special Law & Order arrangement" in the city.
AAP is part of the 'INDIA' bloc, an alliance of more than two dozen
political parties formed last year to jointly challenge the BJP in
the general elections.
The group plans to hold a joint rally in Delhi on March 31 to
protest against Kejriwal's arrest, hoping to renew their unity after
bickering and failed attempts at sharing seats to field common
candidates against the BJP.
The arrest of the high-profile Kejriwal, whose party also rules the
northern Indian state of Punjab, has drawn international attention,
with Germany and the U.S. appealing for a "fair" and "impartial"
trial in the case in line with "basic democratic principles".
(Reporting by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by YP Rajesh and Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
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