NEW DELHI: Indian federal investigators arrested a prominent politician from a rising opposition party on corruption charges on Sunday.
The Aam Aadmi Party is seeking to establish itself as the main opposition party to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, and has already won control of Delhi and Punjab.
Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia who is seen as party leader Arvind Kejriwal’s right-hand man, was apprehended by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after almost 8 hours of interrogation.
The AAP, which was expecting Sisodia’s arrest, said it was due to political rivalry, terming it a “fake case” and a black day for democracy.
AAP as strong opposition
The Aam Aadmi Party, established around a decade ago, is trying to displace the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty’s Congress–whose electoral support base has been decreasing for decades — as the main opposition in India to the incumbent BJP.
Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said his deputy Manish Sisodia was innocent and the arrest was “dirty politics.”
He said that there is a lot of anger among the masses and they will respond to this. –AFP
