My detention shows Narendra Modi is rattled: Arvind Kejriwal
AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal was detained by Gujarat Police while on his way to Bhuj, ostensibly for violating the Model Code of Conduct which came into force today.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was detained by Gujarat Police while he was on his way to Bhuj. However, he was released shortly afterwards. According to initial reports, Kejriwal was detained for violating the Model Code of Conduct which came into effect on Wednesday. His convoy was taken to Radhanpur police station.
Undeterred by his detention, Kejriwal spewed fire on his release, claiming that the orders to hold him came from the top. "My detention shows that Narendra Modi is rattled by my presence," said a combative Kejriwal upon release. "Modi is anti-farmer and anti-common man. The only development in Gujarat has been for the Adanis and the Ambanis," claimed Kejriwal. He also claimed that they has knowledge of his impending detention since the morning.
Kejriwal also claimed that Modi had orchestrated the black flag protest against him in Ahmedabad. Meanwhile, AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said that contrary to reports, Kejriwal's convoy did not have any party stickers or flags on display and despite that he was detained.
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Gujarat Police, however, claims that they did not detain Kejriwal but only requested his convoy to accompany them since his supporters had created a massive traffic jam.
Kejriwal arrived in Gujarat on Wednesday to take on Narendra Modi's governance model.
However, none of the issues the AAP leader is expected to take up during his three-day trip have the potential to put the Gujarat Chief Minister in a tight spot.
In the 2012 Gujarat Assembly Elections, former BJP MLA and now AAP leader Kanu Kalsariya and Gandhian leader Chunibhai Vaidya had raised the same issues.
Kejriwal was in Bahucharaji near Mehsana to take up the cause of a section of farmers who say their land was wrongly given to Maruti Suzuki for its new car plant. This is the same issue that was raised by Vaidya's supporters last year. The idea is to force Maruti Suzuki to withdraw under pressure and then project it as a failure of the Modi model.
Kejriwal is accompanied by Kalsaria and Gujarat AAP head Sukhdev Patel.
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From Bahucharaji, Kejriwal will go to Radhanpur, a town in Patan district not far from the India-Pakistan border, where he will highlight the poor civic amenities, including water to pooh-pooh Modi's claims on development. From Radhanpur, he will go to Bhachau town in Kutch where he will raise local issues and address a public meeting.
After a night in Bhuj in Kutch, he will leave for Mundra on Thursday to meet a section of fishermen who say their rights have been violated by the Modi government, by giving land to Adani Group's Gautam Adani who has his Mundra Port and other units at the spot.