BJP protests outside Delhi Assembly demanding Kejriwal's resignation; AAP raises slogans against PM
New Delhi (PTI): MLAs from both the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP held protests on the Delhi Assembly premises on Wednesday raising slogans against each other.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs held a demonstration demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been arrested by the ED in an excise policy-linked money laundering case, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators and their supporters raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Both parties staged protests simultaneously. As the BJP legislators took out a march carrying placards, the AAP leaders and workers, dressed in yellow T-shirts, started raising slogans against Modi while following the saffron party's MLAs.
Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said Kejriwal should resign as the chief minister.
"The chief minister should resign from his post. There are almost a dozen allegations of corruption against him. If the excise policy was world-class, why did he take it back? We are demanding Kejriwal's resignation," Bidhuri said.
The BJP MLAs congregated at the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the premises where they protested.
Bidhuri said while Kejriwal currently faces charges in one case, investigations are going on in numerous others, necessitating his accountability for multiple alleged scams. He asserted that resignation remains the only viable recourse in such circumstances.
He said Kejriwal continuing to occupy the chief minister's post undermines both moral and constitutional principles, and advocated his prompt resignation to prevent further detriment to Delhi.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva also held a demonstration outside the entrance of the assembly premises around noon with a group of about 100 party workers from Mayur Vihar, along with the party's Mahila Morcha and Yuva Morcha office-bearers, demanding the resignation of Kejriwal.
Dressed in black, the BJP workers gathered at the Vidhan Sabha entrance gate and started raising slogans. Sachdeva himself scaled the gate shouting slogans. Police did not allow them to enter the assembly premises. Security personnel locked the main gate and subsequently detained the protesters.
Sachdeva said the people of Delhi are frustrated watching the "illegal" political melodrama of the Kejriwal government and claimed that they will teach a lesson to the AAP-Congress alliance in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls by totally rejecting them.
He said two ministers of the Delhi government are already in jail and claimed that Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj might also land in prison soon for allegedly issuing fake letters.
Before the commencement of the assembly proceedings, the AAP MLAs staged a protest outside the House and raised slogans demanding Kejriwal's immediate release from the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) custody.
The party leaders, including Atishi and Bharadwaj, were part of the protest. They were dressed in yellow T-shirts with slogans like "Main Bhi Kejriwal" and "Modi ka Sabse Bada Dar Kejriwal" written on them. They also burnt an effigy.
An AAP MLA portrayed himself in chains to highlight, what the party leaders said, the "oppressive tactics employed by the Modi government to silence opposition voices and erode democratic principles".
Delhi minister Atishi said, "We are fighting against the illegal arrest of Kejriwal. His arrest is not just an attack on the AAP but an attack on the democracy of the country. After announcing elections, you (BJP) systematically put all opposition leaders in jail."
"You froze opposition parties' bank accounts. You seized the offices of other parties. If you attack the opposition in this way, how will the opposition contest elections? If the opposition cannot contest elections, how will democracy survive in this country?" she asked.
Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said they strongly oppose the dictatorship of the BJP.
"Our top four leaders are imprisoned and we are being prevented from going out. The police are behaving brutally during the protest. Even the media is not being spared.
"During the demonstration on Tuesday, a journalist's hand was fractured. A senior police officer put his hand around a journalist's neck. These people are crossing the boundaries of tyranny," he said.
He claimed that there is an attempt to put pressure on the MLAs and topple the AAP government in Delhi. "But the AAP MLAs will not be afraid, will not bow down, and will not stop. In the coming days, the whole country will stand against the arrest of Kejriwal," Bhardwaj said.
The AAP national convener was arrested by the ED on March 21 and subsequently remanded to the federal agency's custody till March 28 by a court here.
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Bodies of 3 cousins recovered from forest in Jharkhand's Hazaribag
Hazaribag (PTI): Bodies of two young women and a man were found in Pauta forest in Jharkhand's Hazaribag district on Monday, police said.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Hazaribag headquarters, Amit Kumar Anand told PTI that after investigation, the bodies were identified as Mohammed Adil (25), a native of Katkamdag, Shania Perven (19) of Lohsingha and Khushi Perven (21) of Hazaribag Mufassil.
"All the deceased were cousins, and their bodies have been sent for post-mortem at Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College and Hospital," the police officer said.
The SDPO said that they were investigating the cause of the death and would wait for the post-mortem report.
A missing complaint was lodged about them on April 23, the officer added.
