‘Long witch-hunt’: 8 political parties write to PM Modi over Manish Sisodia's arrest
1 min read . Updated: 05 Mar 2023, 04:54 PM IST
PremiumThey also linked the lodging of cases and consequent arrests with election timings, alleging that the actions were ‘politically motivated’.
Political leaders from eight parties across India written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the recent arrest of AAP leader Manish Sisodia. The former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister had been arrested by the CBI a week ago in connection with the city's now scrapped excise policy. As the senior politician remains in CBI custody, the letter dubbed it a "long witch-hunt" that “smacked of a political conspiracy".
"We hope you would agree that India is still a democratic country. The blatant misuse of central agencies against the members of the opposition appears to suggest that we have transitioned from being a democracy to an autocracy," the leaders wrote.
They also linked the lodging of cases and consequent arrests with election timings, alleging that the actions were "politically motivated".
Parties such as the Congress, JDS, JD (U), and CPI (M) were however not part of the letter.
The missive was signed by several chief ministers and party heads including Trinamool Congress' Mamata Banerjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and BRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal also signed the letter in support of their fellow AAP leader.
The list of signatories included JKNC chief Farooq Abdullah, former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
(With inputs from agencies)