Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers and supporters who were protesting the arrest of AAP MP Sanjay Singh were detained by the police in Mumbai. The Aam Aadmi party have been protesting in several parts of India after Sanjay Singh was arrested on Wednesday. AAP workers staged a protest in the national capital at the Aam Aadmi Party office and demanded his release.
Several senior leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party including Atishi Marlena, Reena Gupta raised slogans against the BJP and demanded the release of AAP leader Sanjay Singh. On the ongoing AAP protest in Delhi, Special CP Law and Order Dependra Pathak said, “It is a protest by the Aam Aadmi Party. The crowd is gathering gradually. Police are present here to maintain the law and order professionally. We are in communication with the organisers. We will make sure that law and order are maintained. We will try to contain the protestors.”
Speaking on Sanjay Singh’s arrest and the raids by Central agencies, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai targeted the BJP and said “This is going to continue till the 2024 elections unless the BJP loses”. AAP workers earlier staged a massive protest in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow over the ED raids conducted at Sanjay Singh’s residence.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal condemned Singh’s arrest stating, “The arrest of Sanjay Singh is completely illegal. This shows Modi ji’s nervousness. They will arrest many more opposition leaders till the elections”. Also, the AAP MP’s arrest triggered sharp reactions from the leaders of the INDIA alliance.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Jha said, “It is not the ED that has arrested Sanjay Singh, he has been arrested by the unit of BJP that comprises ED-IT-CBI. Dark days have begun…In this era of dictatorship, jo dar gaya wo mar gaya. The dictators themselves are scared. This fear will be retaliated against soon”. The AAP is also set to hold a protest outside the BJP headquarters on Thursday opposing Singh’s arrest.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also slammed the BJP-led government over the arrest of AAP leader Sanjay Singh in connection with the Delhi excise policy case and said that it’s the nature of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “scare through the Enforcement Directorate (ED).” Ashok Tanwar, senior Aam Aadmi Party leader of Haryana, said that the BJP has declared an emergency in this country.
“Whoever speaks against the BJP, BJP tries to arrest him with ED, Income Tax and CBI. Our senior leader Sanjay Singh, the way he has been arrested is not right because he does not even have any post in the cabinet, so on what basis has he been arrested?” said Tanwar. Samajwadi Party (SP) Chief Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe at the central government on Wednesday over the arrest of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh stating that it is “nothing new.”
Sanjay Singh was arrested following a day-long questioning session by ED officials at his Delhi residence in the liquor policy scam case. Notably, Sanjay Singh is the third prominent leader of the AAP, after Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, to be arrested by a central agency.