AAP leaders hold fast to protest Kejriwal’s arrest

New Delhi: Top Aam Aadmi Party leaders held a day-long fast at Jantar Mantar here on Sunday to protest against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and accused the BJP of resorting to dictatorship.

Several party volunteers and supporters took part in the fast in the national capital, singing patriotic songs and waving posters showing an image of Kejriwal behind bars. Similar protests were held in other states as well as by Indians abroad, including at Harvard Square in Boston, the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, outside the Indian Embassy in Washington DC, in New York Times Square and Toronto, London and Melbourne among others, party leaders said.

Senior AAP leaders, including Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, Deputy Speaker Rakhi Bila, ministers Gopal Rai, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kailash Gahlot and Imran Hussain attended the day-long 'Samuhik Upwas' at Jantar Mantar from 11 am. Addressing the protesters at Jantar Mantar, the AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Delhi excise scam case, asserted "Kejriwal was, is and will remain honest."

He questioned Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate, claiming the AAP national convener's name was mentioned by just four of 456 witnesses of the CBI and ED probing the case.