New Delhi: In a letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the opposition leaders have said that the arrests of the opposition leaders by the central investigation agencies show that the country has shifted from democracy to autocracy.
Manish Sisodia, one of the senior leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party and former Education Minister of Delhi, was arrested by the CBI on February 26. He has been accused of corruption through the liquor policy implemented in Delhi in 2021-22.
In this case, the opposition leaders have condemned his arrest and have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard. The letter was signed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, Nationalist Congress President Sarath Pawar, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray and National Conference Party President Farooq Abdullah.
In the letter they said: “We hope you will agree that India is a democratic country so far. The abuse of central investigative bodies against the opposition shows that the country has shifted from a democracy to an autocracy. The allegation against Manish Sisodia is baseless. Manish Sisodia is the man who made a huge difference in the education sector of Delhi. The world sees his arrest as a political vendetta. The world suspects that democratic values in India are under threat under BJP rule.
Opposition leaders who have been indicted by the Central Investigation Agency have been lenient in cases against them after they joined the BJP. The current Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sharma, is an example of this. After he joined the BJP in 2015, the investigating agencies were not strict against him.
Similarly, in opposition-ruled states, governors act against constitutional norms. They systematically seek to undermine the credibility of elected state governments. Governors of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Punjab, Telangana and Delhi have been at loggerheads with the rulers of the elected state governments. It is against federalism. Due to this, people are starting to question the activities of the governors,” it said.
