NEW DELHI: An Indian court has granted bail to one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s main opponents, who was first arrested over a long-running corruption probe in March. Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi and the leader of the opposition Aam Aadmi party, dismisses the charges as a “political conspiracy” by Narendra Modi and his extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Arvind Kejriwal was released from jail to campaign partway through India’s weeks-long national polls but returned to jail following voting ended earlier this month. Modi’s party lost its overall parliamentary majority in the recent elections and now leads a coalition government.
“Truth alone triumphs,” Atishi, a minister in Kejriwal’s local government, posted on social media following the court ruling. Kejriwal is likely to walk out of prison on Friday, days before a new parliamentary session starts.
The Delhi CM is a key member of the opposition INDIA bloc, led by the main opposition Congress party, which challenged all elections and observers’ predictions to significantly improve its nationwide tally.
Kejriwal stated before surrendering himself to officials earlier this month, “When power becomes dictatorship, then jail becomes a responsibility.” Kejriwal is one of several opposition leaders in India under criminal probe over various corruption-related investigations, which Modi’s opponents say are being used by the PM to weaken any potential challengers.
Kejriwal, has been chief minister of New Delhi, the region which includes the capital New Delhi, for about a decade and first came to office as a staunch anti-corruption campaigner.
His government was itself alleged of corruption when it liberalized liquor sales in 2021 and gave up a profitable government stake in the sector.
However, the policy was withdrawn the following year but a resulting investigation into the allegedly corrupt allocation of licenses has since led to the jailing of two top allies of Kejriwal.
