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The leader of one of India’s main opposition parties was arrested in dramatic fashion on Thursday, the same day another political party announced it had been blocked from accessing its bank accounts. Critics say the move was taken by President Narendra Modi’s government to intimidate its rivals. The country is in a disadvantageous situation ahead of the extremely important general election in April.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal was detained late Thursday at his home in New Delhi, where hundreds of demonstrators had gathered to protest his arrest by the federal Financial Crimes Authority. Ta. Kejriwal, who is also the chief minister of New Delhi’s National Capital Territory, was arrested on corruption charges related to the city’s liquor policy. Party leaders say the charges are fraudulent.
Campaigning is intensifying ahead of the six-week election starting April 19 that will decide the next prime minister of the world’s most populous democracy. Political groups are spending billions of dollars to campaign from the Himalayas to India’s southern coast in what is believed to be one of the world’s most expensive elections.
As the vote nears, opposition figures say Mr. Modi is battling a cascade of challenges from his government, including attacks on the country’s main investigative agency by rebels while protecting those who have defected to his side. Says.
That includes Mr. Kejriwal, who has been locked in a cat-and-mouse game with investigators in recent months after at least two of his ministers were sent to jail. His party leaders said more than a dozen police officers arrived at his home Thursday night and took away the cellphones of him and his family. He was arrested after several hours of interrogation.
“The central government wants to end all opposition parties,” Atishi Marlena, a minister in the Delhi government, said in front of Kejriwal’s official residence, referring to Mr. Modi’s government.
He said Kejriwal was just about to start the party’s general election campaign.
Mr. Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has been trying to thwart the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party ever since it tried to expand its influence outside the capital New Delhi. The controversial New Delhi Liquor Policy 2021 seems to have clearly provided an opportunity.
Under this policy, the Delhi government allowed all private liquor sales in the city, a departure from previous regulations that allowed a mix of public and private vendors. The central government has accused Kejriwal’s party leaders of receiving kickbacks.
Another politician, Hemant Soren, chief minister of the eastern state of Jharkhand, was arrested in January after federal officials accused him of corruption in land deals. He denied his charges and submitted his resignation before going to jail.
Mr Kejriwal’s arrest caps a day of political turmoil in New Delhi, coming just after India’s main opposition party accused state authorities of paralyzing political activity by cutting off access to bank accounts. Ta.
A party official, an Indian National Congress faction, said eight of the party’s 11 major accounts at four banks have been frozen and there is no clear indication when the party will be able to access the funds. Stated.
“We cannot support the workers. We cannot support the candidates,” Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said at a press conference in New Delhi. “Our leaders can’t fly. Forget about airplanes. They can’t take trains.”
“Our ability to fight elections is being compromised,” he said.
The country’s Income Tax Department, run by Mr. Modi’s government, froze the party’s accounts for 2017-2018, saying the party was 45 days late in filing its tax returns.
Under Indian law, political groups are exempt from paying income tax on funding from individuals and corporations, but must declare their income to tax authorities every year. The current controversy concerns how severely the Indian National Congress should be punished for past wrongdoings.
The Congress party admits that the handover was delayed, but freezing the accounts so close to elections is an authoritarian move aimed at paralyzing India’s main opposition party and giving way to one-party rule. They claim it is a political move.
“The idea that India is a democracy is a lie,” Gandhi said.
Mr. Modi’s officials rejected these claims, describing them as a desperate attempt by opposition forces struggling in an election that is likely to return the People’s Party to power.
Ruling party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said tax exemption for any political organization would be valid only if the organization declares donations to the national tax authorities by the deadline.
The issue of political funding has exploded in India in recent weeks. The country’s Supreme Court recently forced the government-owned State Bank of India to publish a list of all those who have made anonymous political contributions through a financing mechanism known as “electoral bonds,” a move that long-held opposition The veil of secrecy that has been claimed has been removed. Helping those in power.
Mr. Modi’s political party received the most money.
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