Top leaders of Aam Aadmi Party gathered at Jantar Mantar here on Sunday for a day-long fast to protest against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister and the party's national convener Arvind Kejriwal.
Similar protests were being held in other states as well as by Indians abroad, including at Harvard Square in Boston, the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, outside the Indian Embassy in Washington DC, in New York Times Square and Toronto, London and Melbourne among others, party leaders said.
Many senior AAP leaders, including Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, Deputy Speaker Rakhi Bila, ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain attended the day-long 'Samuhik Upwas' at Jantar Mantar in the national capital from 11 am.
Punjab
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and several AAP ministers and MLAs gathered at Khatkar Kalan in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district for a day-long fast to protest the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Khatkar Kalan is the ancestral village of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
Ministers Bram Shanker Jimpa, Laljit Singh Bhullar, Anmol Gagan Mann, Gurmeet Singh Khudian, Punjab Vidhan Sabha speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, AAP candidate from Anandpur Sahib seat Malvinder Singh Kang, party candidate from Fatehgarh Sahib Gurpreet Singh GP and AAP's state unit working president Bhudh Ram were present at the venue. Some AAP volunteers were seen carrying pictures of Kejriwal behind bars.
Maharashtra
The AAP members gathered at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai to mark their protest. In Pune and other cities Maharashtra also, the AAP workers staged the day-long protest at public places. In cities like Pune, some leaders of the opposition Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) also joined the AAP's protest.
Haryana
Haryana AAP chief Sushil Gupta, along with party leaders and workers of the state unit, gathered here on Sunday for a day-long fast to protest the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Gupta -- the party's Kurukshetra Lok Sabha candidate -- was joined by Haryana AAP's senior vice-president Anurag Dhanda and several workers at the sacred Brahma Sarovar to observe the fast. On the occasion, Gupta targeted the ruling BJP at the Centre and alleged that "it is adopting a dictatorial attitude".
The AAP's Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai appealed to people to join the fast to protest against Kejriwal's arrest. He alleged that Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a case linked to the Delhi excise policy-linked scam case was part of the BJP's conspiracy to finish the AAP.
Kejriwal is in judicial custody till April 15.
