The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday said that it will be organising a rally — “Remove Dictatorship Save Democracy” — at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday in which leaders from several non-BJP parties are expected to participate.
AAP’s Delhi convener Gopal Rai said that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal will address the gathering.
“India is currently passing through a decisive phase. Narendra Modi and [BJP chief] Amit Shah are bent on destroying the Constitution and democracy, which our country has succeeded in achieving due to the sacrifices of millions of freedom fighters. Today, it is the duty of every patriotic Indian to stand up to safeguard the country’s Constitution and democracy,” Mr. Rai said.
Mr. Rai said that Ms. Banerjee was coordinating with several Opposition parties to encourage their leadership to take part in the rally and voice their concerns on how elected non-BJP governments in the States were being targeted by the Centre, “which is making a mockery of the federal structure of the Constitution”.
“The Narendra Modi-led government has crossed all limits through blatant misuse of Central agencies to throttle political opponents and it has no respect for the rule of law. All those who want to save the country from this dictatorial duo should come forward to safeguard democracy,” said Mr. Rai in an appeal.
‘Similar to Kolkata rally’
The rally is expected to be similar to the one organised by Ms. Banerjee in Kolkata earlier this year. The rally in West Bengal saw several leaders come together to oppose the Narendra Modi-led government ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.