'Not to Save Kejriwal, But Democracy': INDIA Bloc to Organise 'Maha Rally' in Delhi on March 31 | Updates

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers are staging protests in all assembly constituencies of Delhi today (March 24) against the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an excise policy-linked money laundering case. AAP said it will take out a candle march and burn effigies in protest against “BJP’s dictatorship” and the chief minister’s “illegal arrest”. Representatives of the INDIA bloc will also be reportedly part of the protest.

Ahead of a planned protest by AAP, the Delhi Police has ramped up security measures. As part of the heightened security measures, roads leading to both the BJP headquarters and the ED office in central Delhi have been closed. Paramilitary personnel, equipped with anti-riot gear, have also been stationed to ensure law and order there.

“Senior officers will continue to monitor the entire situation in their districts. Directions have been issued to the SHOs to keep a strict vigil in their area and to inform their senior officers immediately if they get to know about any protest,” a senior police officer said.

The police officer further said that they have asked the traffic police to ensure a smooth flow of traffic in Delhi and to arrange diversions immediately if AAP workers and leaders take out a protest march.

INDIA Bloc’s ‘Maha Rally’ On March 31

Delhi Minister Atishi said, “INDIA alliance is organising a ‘Maha Rally’ in the Ramlila Maidan on 31 March. This is not being organised to save Arvind Kejriwal but to save the democracy. The opposition is facing one-sided attacks.”

AAP Calls First Big Meet After CM’s Arrest

AAP has called a crucial meeting to evolve a strategy for the way ahead following Kejriwal’s arrest. Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak will chair the meeting.

This is AAP’s first meeting after Delhi CM’s arrest.

Kejriwal Continues CM Duties From Jail

Kejriwal continues to perform his chief ministerial duties from jail. On Sunday, he issued the first order from ED custody.

Speaking about it, Delhi’s Water Minister Atishi said, “Arvind Kejriwal has written and said that I know there are sewage problems and water-related issues in some parts. People shouldn’t suffer. Summers are also approaching. You can get help from the Lieutenant Governor as well and know he will not refuse to help.”

“Work for the people of Delhi will continue. I had tears in my eyes when I received this note from CM…Arvind Kejriwal considers two crore people of Delhi as his family. He is with the ED but he continues to work. You can arrest him not the work,” she added.

The latest developments unfolding in the case:

• AAP supporters staged a protest at ITO against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest by ED in the excise policy case.
• Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has refused to immediately hear Kejriwal’s petition against his arrest. The court will hear the petition on March 27 after the Holi. Kejriwal’s legal team had sought an immediate hearing.
• AAP leader and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has said that if his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal is sent to jail, they will approach the court for permission to set up his office in prison so that he can run his government from there.
• He also asserted that no one can take Kejriwal’s place in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). “It is not written anywhere that a government cannot run from jail,” Mann said.
• Meanwhile, in his first message from jail, Kejriwal said he cannot be kept behind bars for long and will return soon to fulfil his promises to people, even as the AAP alleged on Saturday that its city office has been “sealed” from all sides and it will report the matter to the Election Commission.
• Delhi Chief Minister’s wife Sunita Kejriwal also met him at the ED office on Saturday evening.  A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) had allowed Sunita Kejriwal and Bibhav Kumar (Kejriwal’s personal assistant) to meet him every day for half an hour between 6-7 pm, apart from his lawyers.
• AAP leaders also alleged that Atishi was stopped by police near Barakhambha Road to prevent her from heading home.
• A Delhi Police officer refuted the charge that the AAP office has been sealed. Police personnel were deployed at DDU Marg to prevent people from gathering as CrPC section 144 has been imposed there, the officer said.
• A court on Friday remanded Kejriwal in the ED’s custody till March 28 “for his detailed and sustained interrogation” regarding his role in the Delhi liquor “scam”.
• Addressing a press conference, AAP leader Atishi asked the ED to file a case against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that it received crores of rupees from an accused in the excise policy “scam” through electoral bonds.
• Atishi asserted that the ED has not been able to establish a money trail against any AAP leader despite multiple raids, arrests and two-year-long investigations in the “scam”.
• AAP leaders, including Delhi ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai and Saurabh Bharadwaj, gathered at the Shaheedi Park, near the ITO intersection, on Saturday — the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev — and took a pledge to protect democracy.
• Police said around 500 AAP workers and leaders from Delhi and Punjab gathered at Shaheedi Park on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.
• Meanwhile, the BJP opposed Kejriwal’s continuation as the chief minister despite being under arrest, saying it is the most unfortunate moment in the country’s political journey and the worst kind of politics.
• With AAP leaders strongly defending their party supremo, Union minister Anurag Thakur mockingly said they are competing to replace him as the chief minister but his wife has also joined the race now, a reference to Sunita Kejriwal reading out her husband’s message that was also broadcast on news channels.
• Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his Delhi counterpart effectively invited his own arrest by ED due to his repeated failure to respond to summons, suggesting that it might have been a tactic to garner political sympathy.
• Sarma emphasised that when a person disregards nine summons from the ED, it indicates a deliberate invitation for arrest. He remarked that if Kejriwal had complied with the initial summons, his arrest might have been avoided.
• Talking to reporters at the state BJP headquarters here after a poll-preparedness meeting, Sarma said, “If the ED serves someone nine summons and that person doesn’t show up, it is evident that he is inviting his arrest. The ED didn’t arrest Kejriwal, he invited the ED to arrest him.”
• In Mumbai, the volunteers of the Aam Aadmi Party, expressed their outrage by protesting against the illegal arrest of their leader and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
• PM Modi’s effigy was burnt among anti-BJP, anti-Modi and anti-autocracy sloganeering. PM Modi was called out as an insecure ‘tinpot’ dictator.
• The AAP on Sunday questioned the BJP on maintaining “silence” over its relationship with Sarath Chandra Reddy, whose companies allegedly donated Rs 60 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds. Reddy of Aurobindo Pharma was arrested by the central agency last November in connection with the excise policy case.
• Addressing a press conference, Delhi cabinet minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “This is established on the website of the Election Commission of India that the BJP has recovered donations amounting to Rs 55 crore from the prime accused in the alleged Delhi excise policy, Sarath Chandra Reddy, who was also titled as the kingpin’ in the scam, after his arrest.
• The Enforcement Directorate has taken cognisance of Delhi minister Atishi’s statement that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sent her directions from the agency’s custody to initiate public welfare works related to water and sewerage, official sources said on Sunday. The federal agency will conduct an investigation to ascertain if these directions from the arrested chief minister were in line with the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court’s order issued to the ED and Kejriwal during his custody period, the sources said.

(with PTI inputs)