On 31 Mar, in a show of strength, the INDIA bloc held a massive Loktantra Bachao Rally (Save Democracy Rally) at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. Top leaders of India’s opposition coalition and thousands of supporters rallied in the capital, decrying autocracy, and in protest against the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren. The leaders made key demands from the Election Commission of India (ECI) which include a level playing field, stop efforts to scuttle the finances of opposition parties, and stop action by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax department. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, which refused to join the INDIA bloc, also participated in the rally. For Delhi and Panjab, in the absence of top AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, the present situation appears set to pitchfork Panjab CM Bhagwant Mann as the sole spearhead of the party campaign in the parliamentary elections. Of the 22 Lok Sabha seats being contested by the AAP, 13 are in Panjab, 4 in Delhi, 2 in Gujarat, 2 in Assam, and 1 in Haryana. However, days after Kejriwal’s arrest, on 27 Mar, the ED began a raid at the house of Punjab Excise and Taxation Commissioner Varun Roojam. The latest action followed BJP state chief Sunil Jakhar’s complaint to the ECI, seeking a probe into Panjab’s excise policy as well. The ED took cognizance of the Panjab’s Vigilance Bureau First Information Report (FIR) pertaining to embezzlement of $16.4M released as compensation for guava orchards on land acquired by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority between 2016 and 2020.
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