Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann meet AAP MLA Vasava lodged in Gujarat jail; hit out at BJP

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Pic/PTI

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann on Monday met AAP MLA Chaitar Vasava lodged in a jail and claimed the ruling BJP's "tyranny and dictatorship" has reached its limit.

On Sunday, Aam Aadmi Party leaders Kejriwal and Mann addressed a rally in Vasava's support in tribal-dominated Netrang area of Gujarat's Bharuch district where the Delhi CM said the MLA will be the AAP's candidate from Bharuch Lok Sabha seat in the general elections due in a few months.

Vasava is currently the MLA from Dediapada in Narmada district. The Bharuch Lok Sabha seat is currently held by BJP leader and former Union minister Mansukh Vasava.

Chaitar Vasava was arrested on December 14, 2023 in a case of allegedly threatening forest officers and firing in the air while trying to resolve an issue pertaining to cultivation of forest land by local tribals in Narmada district.

His wife Shakuntalaben was also arrested in the case.

Kejriwal and other AAP leaders met the MLA at the Rajpipla district jail in Narmada.

Later talking to reporters, Kejriwal said, "We met Chaitar Vasava and Shakuntalaben...they are fine, healthy, their spirits are high, and they will fight and struggle. Ultimately, we have to uproot the BJP from Gujarat, and the public will do this because their tyranny and dictatorship has reached its limit."

The legislator was jailed because he raised issues affecting the public, the Delhi CM claimed, adding that the arrest of the MLA and his wife has angered the tribal community in Gujarat.

He said the tribals expressed their anger at the rally (in Bharuch) on Sunday.

Mann said the way BJP acts against those who fight for the public is a challenge for the entire country.

"Whoever works for the public and is popular is jailed on the basis of fake cases using the ED and the CBI," he claimed.

"This is dictatorship and will not go on for long. Chaitar Vasava is a popular leader who fought for the public, and his wife was also jailed," he said.

The anger shown by the public at the rally on Sunday shows that the adivasi community has taken Chaitar Vasava's arrest as an insult, the Punjab CM claimed.

Chaitar Vasava is one of the five MLAs of the AAP elected in the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections. One of them, Bhupendra Bhayani, who represented Visavadar constituency, resigned on December 12, 2023.

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