India: one of the main opponents detained by a court

One of the most important leaders of the Indian opposition wasé placed in pre-trial detention on Friday after his arrest the day before in a case which, according to his supporters, aims to kill him. To ward off Prime Minister Narendra Modi's opponents ahead of next month's general elections.

Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the capital Delhi, is one of the leaders of an opposition alliance formed to rival Mr Modi, who has been arrested in a long-running corruption investigation .

Mr. Kejriwal appeared before a New Delhi court on Friday, which ruled that he should remain in remand in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate, India's main agency investigating financial crimes, until March 28 at least.

“My life is dedicated to the country, whether I am inside or outside,” Kejriwal told reporters while he was taken into the courtroom before the hearing begins.

Shadan Farasat, a member of Mr Kejriwal's legal team, told AFP his colleagues were considering what course of action to take after the placement in custody.

His Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) says Mr Kejriwal has not resigned as chief minister despite his arrest.

“We have made it clear from the beginning that if necessary, Arvind Kejriwal would run the government from prison,” Delhi Education Minister Atishi Marlena Singh told reporters on Thursday.

He is one of several bloc leaders under criminal investigation and one of his colleagues called his arrest a “political conspiracy” orchestrated by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) .

Hundreds of supporters of his AAP party took to the streets on Friday to protest and police dispersed a crowd of demonstrators who tried to block a busy road intersection .

Several protesters were arrested, including Delhi Education Minister Atishi Marlena Singh and Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj.

Mr. Kejriwal's government has been accused of corruption in the 2021 awarding of private alcohol sales licenses.

Police officers outside the court during the hearing of opponent Arvind Kejriwal, after his arrest as part of a corruption investigation, on March 22, 2024 in New Delhi, India © AFP – Arun SANKAR

This liberalization policy was halted in 2022 and the subsequent investigation into alleged corruption in licensing resulted in the imprisonment of two prominent AAP members.

M. Kejriwal, 55, Delhi's chief minister for nearly a decade, had resisted several summons from the Enforcement Directorate to be questioned in connection with the probe.

He is among the main opposition leaders facing criminal investigations that supporters say are politically motivated

“We made it clear from the beginning that if necessary, Arvind Kejriwal would lead the government from prison,” Singh told reporters.

– “Degradation of democracy” –

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, another member of the opposition bloc, said Mr. Kejriwal's arrest “resembles a desperate witch hunt.”

India: donations received by parties © AFP – Nicholas SHEARMAN

But Rajeev Chandrashekhar, a minister in the Modi government, responded that the opposition's reaction to Kejriwal's arrest was “extremely surprising.”

“Arvind Kejriwal should understand (…) that the consequences of its violation do not stop just because you are a political leader,” he told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Mr Modi's political opponents and international rights groups have long sounded the alarm about shrinking democratic space in India.

The American democracy think tank Freedom House estimated this year that the BJP had “increasingly used government institutions to target its political opponents”.

Rahul Gandhi, a member of Congress, the main opposition party and scion of a dynasty that dominated Indian politics for decades, was found guilty of defamation last year following a complaint filed by a member of the party of Mr. Modi.

The AAP, the Congress and around twenty other parties have formed an opposition coalition for the polls which will take place between April and June.

Police officers arrest a supporter of opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal during a protest against his arrest on March 22, 2024 in New Delhi, India © AFP – Arun SANKAR

A delegation from the bloc met with India's Election Commission on Friday to condemn what it called deliberate attempts to undermine the opposition's campaign.

< p>Many analysts take Narendra Modi's re-election for granted, in part because of the resonance of his assertive Hindu nationalist policies with members of the country's majority faith.

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