Guwahati, Mar 22: Members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Assam and Raijor Dal staged protests in parts of the state on Friday, hours after Delhi chief minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the enforcement directorate (ED) in an excise policy-linked money laundering case on Thursday evening.
Notably, following Kejriwal’s arrest, AAP had given a nationwide call for protest against the BJP-led government.
AAP members staged protests in various parts of the state, including Guwahati and Dibrugarh, to condemn the action taken by the ED, while terming it a “conspiracy hatched by the BJP against Kejriwal.
In Dibrugarh, AAP leaders, including the state unit president Bhaben Choudhury and AAP-nominated Lok Sabha candidate (for Dibrugarh seat), Manoj Dhanowar, were picked by the state police from the protest site, as AAP members shouted slogans against the BJP government.
On the other hand, Raijor Dal workers/activists also staged a demonstration in Sivasagar town, holding banners/placards and raising slogans demanding the release of the arrested AAP leader.
Meanwhile, condemning the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi minced no words to slam the arrest of the sitting chief minister on the X micro-blogging platform.
“Crushing the Opposition is second nature for this government. Two lows on the same day – freezing the accounts of INC India and arresting sitting CM. “Independent agencies” are clearly working at the behest of political bosses,” Gogoi took to his X handle to react.
“The government is going to great lengths to silence opponents. The world’s largest democracy is headed to become a full-fledged autocracy. People watch, history remembers, truth prevails,” he said.
The Congress leader further criticised the government for freezing the party’s bank accounts ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in the country.
“The freezing of INC India’s bank accounts is an assault on democracy itself. The idea of free and fair elections means a level playing field for all. Unfortunately, this autocratic government is monopolising resources and crippling the opposition,” Gogoi said.
“The institutions which are allegedly “protecting democracy” haven’t intervened at all. The people of India are the last hope. They are watching, and they will unite to undo the injustices of the BJP through the ballot,” he said.