New Delhi, 02 April (H.S.):
Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal wrote a letter to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday, requesting a meeting time over the arrests of legislators and party workers. He stated that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann would also join him.
In the letter posted on social media platform X, Arvind Kejriwal claimed that AAP workers are being illegally arrested on a massive scale in Gujarat ahead of panchayat and municipal elections. The government has been gripped by fear over AAP's rising popularity, he said.
The former chief minister questioned: If the government intends to win elections by jailing opposition leaders and workers, then what is the need to hold elections at all?
He alleged that more than 160 AAP workers have been arrested in the past three months. Kejriwal further claimed to have learned of plans to arrest over 10,000 party workers in the coming days.
Gujarat Police had also arrested state president Isudan Gadhvi—later releasing him late at night—after he visited a police station to inquire about the illegal arrests of workers.
Kejriwal accused Gujarat Police of intensifying actions ahead of local body elections. In the last 48 hours, party workers were arrested in three cases: Deepak Singh from Khambhalia on March 31; Pawan and Jagdish from Porbandar on March 30 and 31; and Naveen Kawaran, Muna Kumar, Alok Singh, and Sunilraj from Jamnagar.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
