Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel seeking time to meet him over the situation involving Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers in Gujarat and in his letter Kejriwal alleged that around 160 AAP workers have been arrested in the state over the past three months and he also claimed that there are plans to arrest thousands more party workers in the coming days.
Kejriwal said these actions are being taken ahead of upcoming local body elections in Gujarat and according to him the arrests and police action are aimed at weakening AAP’s presence in the state.
He further alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is “panicked” due to AAP’s growing popularity in Gujarat and claimed that people in the state are now seeing AAP as a strong alternative after many years of BJP rule.
The AAP chief also raised concerns about the role of the police and alleged that party workers are being threatened and cases are being filed against them unfairly and adds that some workers are even being warned to leave the state and described the situation as a “threat to democracy” and questioned whether elections can be fair if opposition workers are arrested in large numbers.
According to the letter more than 160 AAP workers have already been arrested in the past few months and it also claims that there is a plan to detain over 10,000 workers in the coming days to weaken the party before elections. Kejriwal further alleged a “pattern” in recent incidents particularly in the last 48 hours where AAP workers were reportedly stopped on roads, assaulted, and later booked by police.
The letter also mentions specific cases from Khambhalia, Porbandar and Jamnagar alleging that party workers were attacked and then charged under serious sections like attempt to murder.
