New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) boycotted President Droupadi Murmu’s joint address to both houses of parliament on Thursday, June 27, in protest against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The CBI remanded Kejriwal to three days in custody on Wednesday. He was arrested in connection with a corruption case in the alleged liquor excise policy scam. The fresh case makes it possible for Kejriwal to be kept behind bars irrespective of what the Supreme Court says on his bail in the Enforcement Directorate’s case against him. The CBI’s arrest came hours before the Supreme Court was to hear Kejriwal’s plea against the Delhi high court’s stay of his bail.
Addressing reporters outside parliament, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that the decision to boycott the President’s address was taken because her speech would be written by the government.
“Delhi’s popular chief minister who has won with a huge mandate three time was arrested and put in jail by CBI just when he was likely to get bail from the Supreme Court. ED court had granted him bail This is an example of authoritarianism. The Prime Minister should stop the misuse of investigative agencies and release Arvind Kejriwal. That is why we are protesting here,” he said.
“We respect the President but her address is written by the government and will include big claims about democracy while democracy is being strangled across India. Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren was put in jail. In West Bengal, Maharashtra and Delhi investigative agencies are being misused. Our education minister and health minister have been jailed. I myself was put in jail. So we are boycotting the address. If there is any event organised by the President herself, we will attend it,” Singh added.
Earlier Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak had said that the decision to boycott the President’s address was taken because the constitution is supreme.
“We will boycott the President’s address as the President and the Constitution are supreme. When the Constitution is trampled upon, when in the name of justice you do authoritarianism it is important to raise your voice.”
While Pathak said that the decision was not taken in consultation with the INDIA parties as it was one of the AAP alone, Samajwadi Party MPs Ram Gopal Yadav, Lalji Verma and Javed Ali Khan joined the protest outside the parliament and extended support.
CM @ArvindKejriwal जी की साज़िशन गिरफ़्तारी के ख़िलाफ़ संसद भवन में AAP के विरोध प्रदर्शन में अपना समर्थन देने पहुंचे समाजवादी पार्टी के राष्ट्रीय महासचिव व सांसद @proframgopalya1 जी, सांसद @LaljiVermaSP जी और सांसद @javedaleekhan जी। pic.twitter.com/Gb8UXwJCHZ
Advertisement— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) June 27, 2024
The ED arrested Kejriwal on March 21. He was released on bail to campaign for the elections in May. He went back to jail after the campaigns ended on June 2. He was granted bail by a trial court on June 20, with the judge saying that the ED – under the control of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government – had acted with bias against him. The high court halted his release a day later, and later announced a stay on the bail order.
