Kejriwal accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of imprisoning and eliminating political opponents to secure his electoral victories, drawing parallels to the situation in Pakistan where Imran Khan, described by Kejriwal as “the tallest leader of Pakistan,” has been jailed by his adversaries. Similarly, he criticized Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for allegedly imprisoning her political rivals to manipulate election outcomes.
“If Modi wins, he will likely follow suit by jailing opposition leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar,” Kejriwal warned. These comments were made at a meeting of the INDIA alliance, attended by its key members.
Having secured interim bail from the Supreme Court, Kejriwal has been granted a 21-day reprieve to campaign before he must return to jail on June 2. He faces charges of corruption under stringent money-laundering laws, which he vehemently denies, labeling the Modi government’s actions as dictatorial.
“India has never witnessed such repression in the past 75 years,” Kejriwal remarked in Punjab. He accused the Modi-led government of harassing leaders from the Indian National Congress, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, and Tamil Nadu’s DMK, emphasizing that jailing opposition figures would undermine democracy.
In a related development, Kejriwal’s secretary, Bibhav Kumar, faces allegations of assaulting AAP MP Swati Maliwal. Maliwal claims that Kumar assaulted her at Kejriwal’s residence, an accusation Kejriwal’s party has dismissed as a conspiracy orchestrated by the BJP. AAP leader Atishi alleged that Maliwal’s visit to Kejriwal’s house was a premeditated attempt to frame the Chief Minister, pointing to a video that purportedly contradicts Maliwal’s claims.
Meanwhile, in Rae Bareli, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi addressed a joint rally with former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. She emphasized the values of service to the poor and resilience in the face of adversity, teachings she passed down to Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi. The rally was met with enthusiastic approval from the crowd. Rahul Gandhi, contesting from Rae Bareli, and Kishori Lal Sharma, running in Amethi, both spoke against BJP’s Smriti Irani, seeking to reclaim traditional Congress strongholds.
As the political landscape intensifies, Kejriwal’s charges against Modi echo a broader narrative of democratic backsliding, capturing significant attention as the elections approach.
