Bhagwant Mann criticises Centre over Kejriwal’s arrest

New Delhi/Chandigarh, March 22 (IANS) Saying the situation in the country is like “undeclared emergency”, Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann on Friday blamed the BJP in Centre for indulging in the maximum hate speech in the country.

“The agencies are being used like a tool, like a weapon. Any Opposition leader, who raises his or her voice against the atrocities of the BJP, is raided by the ED, the CBI and the Income Tax. The situation in the country is like an undeclared emergency,” he told the media in Delhi.

On Punjab, he said, “They have stopped the funds of the National Health Mission for AAP's Mohalla clinics... How dare they stop Punjab's tableau and celebrate Republic Day with Punjab's participation... If it was in their control, they would remove the name of Punjab from the national anthem.”

In Chandigarh, AAP workers, led by party leader and minister Harpal Singh Cheema, was detained during their protest against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Kejriwal was arrested on Thursday night in an excise policy-linked money laundering case in Delhi.

There was heavy deployment of the police on the border of Mohali, the gateway to Chandigarh, as protesters were trying to break barricades to enter the state capital.

“This dictatorial regime is making a mockery of constitutional norms and killing the spirit of democracy by destroying the opposition in every way. This shows the fear of BJP and today’s action is the beginning of the end of BJP,” Minister Cheema posted on X.

In Haryana, the police baton-charged AAP volunteers in Kurukshetra as they were lodging the protest over the arrest of Kejriwal. They were heading to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini’s Kurukshetra residence.

AAP’s Haryana unit president Sushil Gupta said: “This is a black day for democracy. The BJP is already trying to destroy the country’s democracy. You have arrested him, how will you stop his ideology?”

“This period is an undeclared emergency created by the BJP. The party, scared of the INDIA alliance, is conspiring to stop Kejriwal. Pressure is being put on him to separate from the INDIA alliance, but the BJP does not know that the entire country stands with Kejriwal. I am going to Delhi immediately,” Gupta added.