AAP's Pune unit protests in silence against CBI's questioning of party leader Arvind Kejriwal. (Photo source: Twitter/ Dr. Abhijit More) The regional unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held a silent protest near the Mahatma Gandhi statue outside Pune railway station on Sunday against party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s questioning by the CBI in the Delhi excise policy case.
Speaking to The Indian Express, senior party leader Vijay Kumbhar said they have also decided to boycott the all-party condolence meet called in memory of the late Pune MP Girish Bapat on Sunday evening in “view of the seriousness of the situation”.
Kumbhar led the group of AAP leaders, wearing black ribbons, during the protest. “The way the central agencies are being used is preposterous. False cases are being filed to harass Opposition leaders – it is worse than the Emergency,” he said. Kumbhar also talked about how the leaders of the party as well as ministers of Delhi and Punjab were heckled and harassed by the Delhi Police.
Kumbhar said the AAP members were to pay their respects to the late MP Bapat, but later decided to skip the meeting. “We are wearing black ribbons and so it would not be right to go to a condolence meeting in such a dress,” he said. The party also said it would intensify its protests in view of the situation in Delhi.
Earlier AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and minister Satyendar Jain were arrested by central agencies for their alleged involvement in other scams. Even as Kejriwal went inside the CBI headquarters, senior party leaders Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and others protested and were subsequently detained. Party leaders slammed the allegations levelled against its leaders and termed the entire exercise a “political witch hunt”.