Ahead of the start of voting in India's general election next month, a prominent leader of a coalition of opposition parties has been arrested on suspicion of being involved in a corruption case, and the opposition parties are criticizing the Modi government, saying the arrest was politically motivated and unfair. In addition to harsh criticism, violent protests were held over the weekend.
Mr. Kejriwal, who serves as the chief minister of the local government that has jurisdiction over India's capital New Delhi, has harshly criticized Prime Minister Modi's administration and has become an influential leader of the opposition coalition. He was arrested by investigative authorities on suspicion of being involved in a policy-related corruption case.
In response, opposition parties intensified their opposition, calling the arrests politically motivated and unjustified ahead of the general election, which begins next month, and staged violent protests in New Delhi over the weekend.
The day before, about 500 people, including leaders and supporters of Kejriwal's opposition party, the Lok Sabha Party, took part, shouting, ``Prime Minister Modi is trying to destroy the democracy of this country,'' and police drove up a bus of demonstrators. Even after some parts of the building were pushed in, people were still raising voices of protest.
Furthermore, the opposition parties are calling for a large-scale protest demonstration in the capital on the 31st of this month as a coalition of opposition parties, while the ruling party led by Prime Minister Modi urges Kejriwal to resign, stating that he will "continue to fight against corruption." They have shown that they are poised to strongly pursue this, and the conflict between the ruling and opposition parties is intensifying as they look ahead to the general election.