New Delhi
CNN
 — 

A key Indian opposition chief was arrested by authorities on Thursday over an alleged corruption case within the newest blow to an alliance of events looking for to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an upcoming normal election.

Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister and one among Modi’s fiercest critics, was taken into custody throughout a raid on his dwelling within the capital by officers from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), India’s federal monetary crimes company, members of his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stated.

Kejriwal and the AAP stand accused of favoring sure liquor sellers and utilizing illegal cash to fund an election marketing campaign in relation to his implementation of a now-scrapped liquor coverage. The chief minister has denied the allegations and maintains the case in opposition to him is politically motivated.

Two different AAP leaders have beforehand been arrested over the identical case and Kejriwal has repeatedly accused Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of utilizing federal companies to focus on the opposition.

AAP employees staged protests outdoors Kejriwal’s home Thursday, chanting slogans and blocking roads as he was taken away by authorities.

“This shows that today the ED is not an independent investigative agency,” stated AAP politician Atishi Singh. “It is a political weapon of the BJP.”

Kejriwal will “remain the chief minister of Delhi,” she stated, including the AAP has filed a case within the Supreme Court to petition for his launch.

CNN has reached out to Kejriwal’s lawyer and the ED for remark.

Senior BJP chief Ravi Shankar Prasad defended the motion of the monetary crime company, telling native media that “this is a process of law which is being done with a view to taking appropriate action against corruption. We will only say, let the law take its course.”

Kejriwal got here into energy in Delhi with a roaring majority on a promise of anti-corruption in 2015, securing a second time period 5 years later. Though a relatively small get together at nationwide stage, the AAP has made a mark in Indian politics, lately successful state elections in Punjab whereas fiercely difficult the ruling BJP.

Kejriwal’s arrest got here hours after India’s foremost opposition, the Indian National Congress, accused the BJP of utilizing the tax division to “cripple” their funds. The get together claimed their financial institution accounts had been frozen by the tax division, leaving them unable to make use of some $20 million in funds.

“We cannot do our campaign work. We cannot support our workers and candidates. Our leaders cannot travel from one part of the country to the other. We’re unable to put out our ads,” Congress chief Rahul Gandhi instructed a information convention in Delhi.

“This is being done two months before the election campaign. This is a criminal action against the Congress party, done by the PM and the Home Minister. It is being orchestrated to cripple us before the elections.”

BJP president J.P. Nadda stated the Congress was “conveniently blaming their irrelevance on ‘financial troubles’,” in a put up on social media platform X, whereas defending the tax division.

The political showdown comes at a time of accelerating scrutiny for the BJP after it was revealed that the ruling get together benefitted from the now-illegal electoral bonds scheme, a mode of nameless funding launched by the get together in 2017.

Last month, India’s Supreme Court banned the scheme, deeming it “unconstitutional” and ordered the Election Commission to reveal donation particulars to the general public.

The subsequent knowledge dump revealed the BJP was the first beneficiary of the scheme, securing about $150 million in donations since 2018.

Tensions are operating excessive with weeks to go till polls open in a mammoth normal election that’s anticipated to see some 970 million folks solid their vote.

Often known as the world’s largest experiment in democracy, the Indian election comes at an important time for the nation, because it good points prominence on the world stage with Modi presenting himself as a statesman who’s cementing the South Asian nation as a contemporary superpower.

Modi is broadly anticipated to win a uncommon third consecutive time period in energy, whereas the Congress and different opposition events languish within the polls.

This story has been up to date with further data.