The AAP national convener was arrested by the ED on March 21. (File)
MLAs from both the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP held protests on the Delhi Assembly premises on Wednesday raising slogans against each other.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs held a demonstration demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been arrested by the ED in an excise policy-linked money laundering case, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators and their supporters raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Both the parties staged protests simultaneously. As the BJP legislators took out a march carrying placards, the AAP leaders and workers, dressed in yellow T-shirts, started raising slogans against PM Modi while following the saffron party's MLAs.
Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said Arvind Kejriwal should resign as the chief minister.
"The chief minister should resign from his post. There are almost a dozen allegations of corruption against him. If the excise policy was world class, why did he take it back? We are demanding Arvind Kejriwal's resignation," Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said.
The BJP MLAs congregated at the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the premises where they protested.
Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said while Arvind Kejriwal currently faces charges in one case, investigations are ongoing in numerous others, necessitating his accountability for multiple alleged scams. He asserted that resignation remains the only viable recourse in such circumstances.
He said Arvind Kejriwal continuing to occupy of the chief minister's post undermines both moral and constitutional principles, advocating for his prompt resignation to prevent further detriment to Delhi.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva also held a demonstration outside the entrance of the assembly premises around noon with a group of about 100 party workers from Mayur Vihar, along with the party's Mahila Morcha and Yuva Morcha office-bearers, demanding the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal.
Dressed in black, the BJP workers gathered at the Vidhan Sabha entrance gate and started raising slogans. Virendra Sachdeva himself scaled the gate shouting slogans.
Police did not allow them to enter the assembly premises. The security personnel locked the main gate and subsequently detained the protesters.
Virendra Sachdeva said the people of Delhi are frustrated watching the "illegal" political melodrama of the Arvind Kejriwal government and claimed that they will teach a lesson to the AAP-Congress alliance in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls by totally rejecting them.
He said two ministers of the Delhi government are already in jail and claimed that Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj might also land in prison soon for allegedly issuing fake letters.
Before the commencement of the assembly proceedings, the AAP MLAs staged a protest outside the House and raised slogans demanding Arvind Kejriwal's immediate release from the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) custody.
The party leaders, including Atishi and Bharadwaj, were part of the protest. They were dressed in yellow T-shirts with slogans like "Main Bhi Kejriwal" and "Modi ka Sabse Bada Dar Kejriwal" written on them. They also burnt an effigy.
The AAP national convener was arrested by the ED on March 21 and subsequently remanded to the federal agency's custody till March 28 by a court here.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)