AAP leaders observe hunger strike to protest arrest of Delhi CM Kejriwal

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.”