Unfazed by detention of several their senior city party leaders, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers staged a vehement protest in front of the office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in south Mumbai against the “illegal” arrest of their party MP and leader Sanjay Singh in the national capital.
In a massive crackdown on the party’s senior leadership in the city ahead of their protest in front of ED’s office, the city police had earlier in the morning detained Mumbai AAP chief Preeti Sharma Menon, working president Ruben Mascrenhas, vice president Plus Varghese and 15 other party leaders from their homes across the metropolis.
Undeterred by the detention of their party leaders, hundreds of AAP workers – led by party’s Mumbai unit working president Dvijendra Tiwari – descended in front of the ED office in south Mumbai, carrying banners, posters and staged a noisy protest against the “illegal” “draconian” arrest of Singh. They raised vociferous slogans against the Narendra Modi government and demanded the release of their leader.
The protesting AAP workers resisted attempts by the city police to quell them, prompting the law enforcement officials to detain more than 100 activists into their waiting van and take them away.
Apart from Tiwari, AAP’s vice-presidents Sandeep Katke, Meenal Jain, and Mehmood Deshmukh and joint secretaries Mahesh Chawda and Sandeep Mehta were part of Thursday’s protest staged in front of the ED office.
Earlier, taking to “X” ahead of her detention earlier in the morning, Mumbai AAP chief Preeti Sharma Menon came down heavily on the Mumbai police for their “strong tactics” to prevent them staging a protest against Singh’s arrest in Delhi.
“The police have reached my home. They are not allowing me to leave for the protest. In 12 years of public life I have never seen such a cowardly administration!. @CPMumbaiPolice @mumbaipolice not handle a simple protest! Shame on @Dev_Fadnavis,” Preeti wrote.
“So much police deployment outside my humble home! Looks like all criminals are on holiday and @mumbaipolice has no other work. Please go home guys,” she stated.
Alleging that the AAP leaders’ detention was aimed at prevention the AAP workers from staging the protest, AAP’s working president Ruben Mascarenhas wrote on “X”: “This morning at 7.30 am @mumbaipolice came home and took me to the Juhu Police Station.Still here. No reason has been given. This is a deliberate attempt to not allow @AAPMumbai ‘s protest against Sanjay Singh’s arrest outside the ED Office. Protest won’t stop”.
Later in the day, Mascarenhas said in a statement released to the media: “Sanjay Singh has been the voice of the masses and the marginalised in Parliament. He has dared to speak the truth and has held the Modi government accountable for its incompetence. He has been a thorn in the flesh of the Modi government and the powers that be, relentlessly exposing their misdeeds and treachery”.
“Despite ED conducting so many raids, they have not been able to find even an iota of evidence, the BJP cannot defeat AAP politically, hence these irrational, cooked-up and false charges. We are an honest party. We are not scared of the BJP’s fear-mongering tactics,” Mascarenhas said.
Charging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was rattled with the prospect of his impending defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Preeti said: “It is his desperation that is driving him to force the ED to target the Opposition. We are the Aam Aadmi Party. We have emerged from a people’s movement and won’t be cowed down no matter what Modi-Shah and the BJP resort to. We are fighting a good fight. We will prevail. Satyameva Jayate”.