As crackdown on opposition members appears to ramp up, analysts say 2024 election could be most one-sided in India’s history
By Hannah Ellis-Petersen
With less than two weeks to go before India’s election begins, Arvind Kejriwal, one of the country’s most prominent opposition leaders, would usually be out on the campaign trail. Instead, he is detained in a 14ft by 8ft cell in Delhi’s Tihar jail – said to be spending his days sweeping, reading, doing yoga – and running Delhi’s government from behind bars.
Kejriwal, who has been the chief minister of Delhi since 2015, is not the only leader from his opposition Aam Aadmi party (AAP) to be locked up in Tihar. Alongside him is his former deputy chief minister, Manish Sisodia, who has been incarcerated for more than a year. The former health minister, Satyendar Jain, has been there since May 2022.
On 2 April, another AAP minister, Sanjay Singh, was finally granted bail by the supreme court after spending six months behind bars.
AAP called the arrests, which all relate to money-laundering charges, a political conspiracy and an open vendetta by the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government to “crush” the party before the election. Voting will begin on 19 April, with the BJP and AAP going head to head for seats including those in Delhi.
This story was originally published in theguardian.com. Read the full story here.
