Lowering the level of politics in this manner does not suit the PM, said Priyanka Gandhi (File)
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in a sharply-worded message, called Arvind Kejriwal's arrest this evening by the Enforcement Directorate "completely wrong and unconstitutional". The Delhi Chief Minister was taken into custody in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise scam.
Ms Vadra is the first INDIA bloc leader to slam the arrest.
"Targeting Delhi Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal in this manner due to elections is completely wrong and unconstitutional. Lowering the level of politics in this manner suits neither the Prime Minister nor his government," she wrote on X, minutes after the arrest.
"Fight your critics in the electoral battle, confront them boldly, and of course attack their policies and working style - this is democracy. But in this way, using the power of all the institutions of the country to fulfill one's political objective and weakening them by exerting pressure is against every principle of democracy," she added.
The Congress leader listed the ways the Opposition in the country is being targetted and attacked by the BJP ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha polls.
"The bank accounts of the country's largest opposition party Congress have been frozen, all the political parties and their leaders are under pressure day and night from the ED, the CBI, and the IT, one Chief Minister has been put in jail, now preparations are being made to take another Chief Minister to jail. Such a shameful scene is being seen for the first time in the history of Independent India," she added.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has become the first sitting Chief Minister to be arrested in the history of Independent India. His party maintained he will continue to hold the post.
The arrest has dealt a severe blow to the Opposition's mega alliance INDIA, of which the AAP is a member.