Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express his concern about Manish Sisodia’s detention, emphasizing the importance of dispelling the “widespread perception” that the Aam Aadmi Party leader is being “targeted for political reasons.” Pinarayi Vijayan said he will not comment on the case’s merits, but that Sisodia’s arrest has “lent further force to the argument about certain actions of the central investigation agencies.”
“Manish Sisodia is an elected representative of the people who have appeared before the investigating agencies in response to their summons. The letter said that avoiding the arrest would have been preferable unless it was required to stop the obstruction of the investigation.
“Because we emphasize the principle of cooperative federalism, excessive actions by anyone involved should be avoided.”
Further in the letter, it was written, “In this matter, I hope that guidance from the Hon’ble Prime Minister will go a long way in changing the present perception, which is reflected in the letter of the important political leaders in this matter, including some Chief Ministers.
Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, shared a copy of the letter on Twitter, thanking his Kerala counterpart for speaking out against “illegal arrests of leaders across India.”
Pinarayi Vijayan had previously called Sisodia’s arrest an “attack on democracy” and claimed that the Union government was using central agencies to “intimidate” opposition-ruled states and their leaders.
“The arrest (of) Manish Sisodia by CBI is another example of how the ruling BJP misuses the central agencies to intimidate the opposition. It is an obvious abuse of power, and all democratic forces should condemn it. Such regressive steps undermine our nation’s very foundation and must be opposed,” he tweeted last week.
The CBI arrested Sisodia in connection with its investigation into alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled excise policy. After the CBI’s custody in the case expired on Monday, a Delhi court remanded him to 14 days in judicial custody.
