The Aam Aadmi Party marked the ‘Beginning of BJP’s Downfall’, by organising nationwide protests against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Shri Manish Sisodia’s arrest. Massive protests targeting PM Modi over his vendetta politics were held across various districts of Delhi, Punjab, UP, Haryana, Maharashtra, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Mizoram, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Bihar, Odisha among other states and UTs of the country on Monday. In Delhi, Thousands of AAP workers and leaders including AAP Senior Leader and MLA Ms Atishi, AAP Chief Spokesperson and MLA Shri Saurabh Bhardwaj and AAP Senior Leader Shri Adil Ahmad Khan gathered to protest outside the BJP Headquarters. Several teachers and students from the government schools of Delhi also took part in the protest and expressed their anger at the arrest of their beloved “Manish Chacha”. The AAP leaders and party workers were protesting against the Modi Government’s oppression of the opposition and vendetta politics while wearing black ribbons and handcuffs, when the police and RAF personnel charged towards them to prevent them from reaching the BJP HQ. Several MLAs and councillors were even detained by the Delhi Police and stuffed into buses by the police personnel. Eventually, the police pushed back the protest gathering towards the AAP headquarters but could not contain the anger on display from party members. In a bizarre turn of events, the Delhi Police even barged inside the AAP HQ and detained several protestors reminding many of Emergency era’s brute action.
Addressing the workers from inside the AAP headquarters, Chief SpokespersonShri Saurabh Bhardwaj, accused the BJP of using their might to stop AAP workers from protesting the arrest of Shri Manish Sisodia on the occasion. “The BJP blocked our vehicles multiple times on the way and detained our party workers from their houses,” he said. “Media persons wondered if even 100 people would gather for the protest, but today they saw that despite all the forces of the BJP stopping us, a large number of people have made it here,” he added.
Shri Bhardwaj went on to recount an incident during the protest where a police officer, dressed as a civilian, admitted that the arrest of Shri Manish Sisodia was wrong. The officer also questioned the police force’s presence in the AAP headquarters. “Even persons within the police force believe that it is wrong to arrest the Delhi Dy CM, but the officials cannot express this in public,” Shri Bhardwaj said.
The AAP Chief Spokesperson further added that head constables of the Delhi Police present at the protest also felt sad about Shri Sisodia’s arrest as their children were studying in Delhi government schools and they were happy with the facilities provided.
“The Aam Aadmi Party is not afraid. We will not bow down, and we will not stop,” He said. “The Prime Minister is scared of this power. It is not only the power of Shri Arvind Kejriwal but the power of Aam Aadmi Party workers that BJP fears. We are ready to sacrifice, and we will fight a long battle. The Aam Aadmi Party will not get tired, will not bow down, and will not stop.” The party has vowed to continue protesting until Shri Manish Sisodia is released, and they have called on the people of Delhi to join them in their fight against the BJP, he informed.
AAP Senior Leader and Kalkaji MLA Ms Atishi hit out at PM Narendra Modi for running Delhi like a dictator and said that on Monday, personnel belonging to Delhi Police openly entered the Aam Aadmi Party office and dragged party workers from the inside. She added that AAP party workers were protesting peacefully inside the party headquarters when they were physically dragged out by Delhi Police and detained.
Calling such activities of the Central Government fascist, she hit out at the Prime Minister for thinking that he can arrest and put anyone in jail without any evidence or investigation. She added that as long as Deputy Chief Minister Shri Manish Sisodia is in jail, AAP party workers will continue to protest against the tyranny of the BJP leadership.
AAP Senior Leader Shri Adil Ahmad Khan strongly condemned the recent arrest of Shri Manish Sisodia by BJP-controlled agencies. He stated that Shri Manish Sisodia was solely responsible for providing a bright future to millions of Delhi government school children and that the arrest was made in a false case. He further criticised the BJP, stating that their actions were shameful and that they were resorting to dictatorship under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He declared that every AAP party worker was a follower of Bhagat Singh and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, and that they would not be intimidated by the BJP’s attempts to suppress their movement.
Speaking from inside the bus in which he had been detained, AAP MLA Shri Kuldeep Kumar protested against the misuse of the CBI and other investigative by the BJP to arrest Shri Manish Sisodia. He called the Delhi Dy CM a gentleman and said that he is responsible for bringing about an ‘Educational Revolution’ in Delhi. He pointed out that the BJP does not do anything when Gautam Adani usurps the money that belongs to the nation, and in fact, the BJP ensures that the Adani Group gets more contracts across the country. But when a person is working for the betterment of the nation and its children, the BJP misuses agencies to target him and put him in jail. He hit out at the kind of politics being used by the BJP and said that it will be AAP that will bring about an end to the dictatorship of Narendra Modi.
