AAP MLA Vasava’s arrest sparks Kejriwal’s criticism of BJP’s actions

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann recently visited AAP MLA Chaitar Vasava, currently imprisoned in Gujarat, highlighting the alleged oppressive tactics of the ruling BJP. During a rally in Gujarat’s Netrang area, Kejriwal announced Vasava as AAP’s candidate for the Bharuch Lok Sabha constituency in the upcoming general elections. Currently representing Dediapada in Narmada district, Vasava is set to challenge BJP’s Mansukh Vasava, the current holder of the Bharuch Lok Sabha seat.

Chaitar Vasava was arrested on December 14, 2023 in a case of allegedly threatening forest officers and firing in the air while trying to resolve an issue pertaining to cultivation of forest land by local tribals in Narmada district. His wife Shakuntalaben was also arrested in the case.

Kejriwal and other AAP leaders met the MLA at the Rajpipla district jail in Narmada.
Later talking to reporters, Kejriwal said, “We met Chaitar Vasava and Shakuntalaben…they are fine, healthy, their spirits are high, and they will fight and struggle. Ultimately, we have to uproot the BJP from Gujarat, and the public will do this because their tyranny and dictatorship has reached its limit.”

The legislator was jailed because he raised issues affecting the public, the Delhi CM claimed, adding that the arrest of the MLA and his wife has angered the tribal community in Gujarat. He said the tribals expressed their anger at the rally (in Bharuch) on Sunday. Mann said the way BJP acts against those who fight for the public is a challenge for the entire country. “Whoever works for the public and is popular is jailed on the basis of fake cases using the ED and the CBI,” he claimed.

“This is dictatorship and will not go on for long. Chaitar Vasava is a popular leader who fought for the public, and his wife was also jailed,” he said.
The anger shown by the public at the rally on Sunday shows that the adivasi community has taken Chaitar Vasava’s arrest as an insult, the Punjab CM claimed.

Chaitar Vasava is one of the five MLAs of the AAP elected in the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections. One of them, Bhupendra Bhayani, who represented Visavadar constituency, resigned on December 12, 2023.