India Opposition Leader Returns to Prison a Day After Vote Ends
(Bloomberg) -- The chief minister of India’s capital, Delhi, whose brief release from prison energized the opposition alliance’s election campaign, returned to prison a day after voting ended.
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Indian courts had granted Arvind Kejriwal a brief hiatus to allow him to campaign on behalf of his Aam Aadmi Party, or the Common Man’s Party, and the alliance seeking to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kejriwal surrendered to authorities on Sunday, one day after India’s marathon six-week election ended. Exit polls released Saturday showed Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party easily winning another term in office. Votes will be officially counted on June 4.
The opposition leader was arrested in March by a federal investigative agency on allegations of money laundering in relation to a now-defunct liquor policy. Kejriwal, along with other opposition leaders, have claimed that the allegations are politically motivated and intended to weaken the opposition alliance challenging Modi’s electoral juggernaut.
Speaking at his party’s headquarters in Delhi before turning himself in, Kejriwal dismissed the exit poll results and said Modi’s government was jailing him “with no proof.” Earlier Sunday, he visited a Hindu temple and a memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi before meeting with supporters at his party’s headquarters.
Kejriwal hasn’t stepped down as Delhi’s chief minister despite calls from the BJP for his resignation.
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Several other senior leaders of his party have also been arrested on allegations that the state government skewed alcohol pricing in the country’s capital in exchange for bribes. The party has consistently denied the allegations and described them as a political witch-hunt by the BJP-led government that controls the country’s federal investigative agencies.
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