New Delhi, March 22 -- A day after the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate, leaders from the INDIA bloc parties lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI). They accused the ruling BJP of misusing central agencies to suppress Opposition parties.
The leaders presented a memorandum to the EC, listing instances of central agencies targeting Opposition parties, and claimed that the opposition was not being given a fair chance to compete.
They proposed that the heads of the investigation agencies be replaced during the election to ensure fair play.
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, speaking to the press after the meeting, highlighted that their complaint was not ordinary. He argued that the actions of the ruling party were undermining the basic structure of the Constitution.
Singhvi stressed that a level playing field is essential for free and fair elections, which are the cornerstone of democracy. He accused the ruling party of skewing this level playing field by misusing agencies.
He pointed out that old cases have been revived to target the Opposition. He questioned the timing of the actions taken against Kejriwal, suggesting that they were politically motivated.
Singhvi noted that no party in India's 75-year history, including the BJP, had ever considered arresting a sitting Chief Minister. He accused the ruling party of harassing, raiding, and arresting members of every party in the Opposition.
He questioned why no member of the ruling party had been affected and asked the Election Commission to exercise its Constitutional power to control appointments to the ED, CBI, and IT during the election period.
Besides Singhvi, Congress leaders KC Venugopal, TMC's Derek O'brien and Nadimul Haque, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, AAP leaders Sandeep Pathak and Pankaj Gupta, NCP-SCP leader Jitendra Awhad, DMK's P Wilson and Javed Ali of the SP were part of the delegation.
While the JMM, RJD and Shiv Sena (UBT) could not send any representatives, the opposition leaders said all parties supported the memorandum.
The delegation was convened following Kejriwal's arrest.
Singhvi noted that many leaders had made an effort to attend the meeting, even if they were not in Delhi.
The leaders provided a list of ten incidents since January where Opposition leaders had been targeted by central agencies.
These included the registration of an FIR against TMC's Mahua Moitra, raids and arrests of leaders of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and the freezing of Congress's accounts.
The Opposition claimed that these incidents revealed a clear pattern of the ruling regime abusing its power and destroying any semblance of a level playing field for other political parties contesting the Lok Sabha elections.
The Opposition called on the Election Commission to take drastic steps to halt this misuse of official machinery, arguing that free and fair elections were not possible under the current circumstances.
Kejriwal was arrested on Thursday night in connection with a money laundering case linked to an excise policy in Delhi.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.