NEW DELHI : Leaders participating in the opposition’s ‘Save Democracy Rally’ at Ramlila Maidan in the capital Delhi gave a fiery speech against the BJP-led government and appealed to the people to vote against the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections “to save the Democracy  and the Constitution”.
In a show of opposition unity ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, INDIA bloc leaders came together at the ‘Loktantra Bachao’ rally at the Ramlila ground here in the backdrop of Kejriwal’s arrest. In this first big rally of the opposition before the Lok Sabha elections, the opposition parties tried to show unity. A large number of Aam Aadmi Party supporters participated in the rally at Ramlila Maidan.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, NC’s Farooq Abdullah and Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren were among those present.
Tyranny won’t work and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal cannot be kept behind bars for long, said Sunita Kejriwal, reading out her husband’s message from Enforcement Directorate custody at the INDIA bloc’s ‘Loktantra Bachao’ rally here on Sunday.In her maiden speech at a political rally, Sunita also asked people whether Kejriwal should resign as Chief Minister.  “The BJP is demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Kejriwal. Should he resign? Is his arrest justified? He is a ‘sher’ (lion). They won’t be able to keep him behind bars for long,” she said. Sunita thanked people for showering blessings on her husband.
Opposition leaders spoke to the flag-waving crowd and criticized Modi’s government for arresting several of their colleagues, including New Delhi’s top elected official Arvind Kejriwal on March 21. The leaders called the arrests undemocratic and accused Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, of using federal agencies to undermine the opposition.
On Sunday evening, BJP and its allies tried to show their strength in Meerut. In the rally held at Ramlila Maidan, former Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Shiv Sena faction chief Uddhav Thackeray, Sitaram Yechury from leftist parties, D Raja, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and TMC’s Derek O’Brien attended.
Apart from these, Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal and Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren also participated in the rally. Both accused the current government of misusing agencies to arrest their husbands. In a huge show of strength rally of India Bloc, leaders of all major opposition parties pressed for the release of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. The leaders expressed concern about the health of the country’s democracy and accused the BJP of eliminating the opposition through central investigative agencies.
Opposition leaders spoke to the flag-waving crowd and criticized Modi’s government for arresting several of their colleagues, including New Delhi’s top elected CM  Arvind Kejriwal on March 21. The leaders called the arrests undemocratic and accused Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, of using federal agencies to undermine the opposition.
Kejriwal was arrested by the federal Enforcement Directorate on charges that his party and state ministers had accepted 1 billion rupees ($12 million) in bribes from liquor contractors nearly two years ago. The Aam Aadmi Party denied the accusations and said that Kejriwal would remain as New Delhi’s chief minister while the court decides on the next step. In January, the agency arrested Hemant Soren until then the chief minister of eastern Jharkhand state for allegedly facilitating an illegal land sale. Soren’s party denies the charges.
“This battle is to safeguard the nation, democracy, constitution, future of the nation, youth, farmers and women. This battle is for justice and truth,” Deepender Singh Hooda, a MP from Congress party, told reporters at the rally.
Kejriwal’s arrest is seen as a setback for the opposition bloc that is the main challenger of the BJP in the elections.The BJP denies targeting the opposition and says law enforcement agencies act independently.
“Narendra Modi wants to strangle democracy and take away the option from the people to choose the government of their choice,” opposition leader Rahul Gandhi from the Congress party, who took part in Sunday’s rally, wrote on X.
Modi kicked off his campaign for a third term from the city of Meerut, Modi said the opposition was uneasy because of the administration’s crackdown on corruption. “While Modi’s mantra is to eradicate corruption, their (opposition parties) credo is protect the corrupt,” he said.

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