It was not surprising that Delhi’s deputy secretary Arvind Kejriwal was detained on Thursday amid corruption claims.
Months earlier, in November, Mr Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP ) had run a door to door campaign, asking residents of India’s capital whether he should resign or run his government from jail.
The Enforcement Directorate ( ED), India’s potent federal financial crime agency, is looking into Mr. Kejriwal and other senior members of his party, according to the allegations made by them.
The second AAP leader to be detained in connection with the alleged corruption scandal involving Delhi’s recently discontinued liquor policy is Mr. Kejriwal. In this strategy, the state relinquished control of the alcoholic beverage industry to private sellers.
Mr Kejriwal and his party had denounced the analysis, with Mr Kejriwal saying the ED had failed to body” particular” charges against him and called the call “generic” and “illegal”.
Mr Kejriwal’s imprisonment, contrasting his pro- problem battle that took India by surprise in 2011, comes less than a fortnight before India’s public elections, starting on 19 April. His AAP is a member of the 27-party INDIA empire that seeks to issue the BJP.
In only over a century, AAP, despite being a stranger, has emerged as a formidable force.
Since 2013, it has won numerous victories in Delhi’s state elections, and it has grown in popularity by winning important elections in Punjab, a position where anger is prevalent.
In the upcoming elections, the AAP will be running for four of the seven political votes in the money. In 2019, it lost all the seven seating to the BJP. But, AAP swept 67 of the 70 assembly votes in Delhi in 2020.
Who is Arvind Kejriwal?
A mechanical expert from the prominent Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Mr Kejriwal afterwards served as a state official in the Income Tax department.
He gained notoriety for his work with Parivartan, a nonprofit that promoted the use of the government’s Right to Information (RTI ) law.
In 2011, Mr Kejriwal backed interpersonal warrior Anna Hazare’s appetite strike for the creation of a politician’s watchdog to probe problem. Inspired by the party’s achievement, which stirred India, he founded the Aam Aadmi Party, pledging to eliminate fraud.
In 2013, Mr. Kejriwal took over as Delhi’s general secretary. Nevertheless, he resigned after 49 times when his party failed to pass the watchdog costs in the legislature.
This bolstered his party’s rise, leading to a striking triumph in the 2015 Delhi council elections. In 2020, his group secured another triumph in Delhi.
The struggle to maintain power
AAP claims that despite having an overwhelming majority in the legislative council, the BJP intends to destroy its Delhi state.
He and other opposition events have accused the BJP of using key firms to target opposition leaders. These organizations are looking into complaints of money laundering against the chief ministers of three southern state and other political opponents. The BJP denies any social motivation behind the studies.
AAP has faced various studies.
Sanjay Singh, the head of the AAP, was detained in the same way last October for allegedly accepting money from liquor nobles ‘ brokers who made money off of the same coverage.
In his second term as general secretary, Mr Kejriwal faced new challenges.
The main minister’s appeal to Hindu religious sentiments increased as the Hindu nationalist BJP emerged as the party’s primary competitor in Delhi.
Also, anti- problem speech alone was n’t enough for AAP’s electoral victory in Delhi, say experts. The group’s reputation is now heavily dependent on welfare programs like providing the poor with complimentary electricity and water.
It’s still to be seen whether AAP’s focus on its welfare programs will have a positive impact on the future surveys. According to Kejriwal in February,” I will start as many schools as the number of request issued to me.”
The controversial wine coverage
According to Mr. Kejriwal’s party, the new liquor policy may reduce dark market sales, boost profits, and assure uniform distribution of liquor licenses throughout the city.
However, the policy was later withdrawn after Lieutenant Governor ( LG ) Vinai Kumar Saxena accused AAP of breaking the law to benefit private liquor barons. Before the disagreement over the tax policy, Mr. Saxena, who was appointed by the federal government, had had verbal altercations with the Delhi authorities on numerous times.
Federal authorities began looking into the scheme and the alleged payments received by AAP leaders as a result of Mr. Saxena’s accusations.
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