Politician and Activist Known for Anti-Corruption Stance Accused of Accepting $12.1M in Liquor Bribes
A police van captured carrying the Indian politician, Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Admi Party. He was accused of accepting bribes from liquor distributors. (Photo: AP Photo/Dinesh Joshi)
ABC News reported on March 21 that India’s chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, was arrested by federal authorities over accusations of accepting 1 billion rupees ($12 million) in liquor bribes from distributors.
Kejriwal launched his party, the Aam Aadmi Party, in 2012, ABC News reports, and a chief component of the platform was to clean up corruption in Indian politics. The outlet reports that the organization chose to use the symbol of a broom to demonstrate its commitment to the cause.
Though his political career had its fair share of ups and downs, Kejriwal served as chief minister of Delhi in 2020 for the third consecutive year.
Supporters of the politician have vehemently denied these accusations, claiming they were “undemocratic.” The party called for individuals to take to the streets in protest and additionally asked India’s Supreme Court to release Kejriwal as the investigation continues. The request was denied.
The charges fall under the country’s Prevention of Money Laundering Act and claim that 14 liquor distributors managed to make a $41 million profit. The charges allege the distributors bribed Kejriwal and his fellow party members.
“A scared dictator wants to create a dead democracy,” Parliament member Rahul Gandhi said on X, formerly known as Twitter, in response to Kejriwal’s arrest. “the arrest of elected chief ministers has become a common thing.”
Kejriwal was called in to be questioned nine times in recent month but failed to appear, citing work responsibilities, ABC News reported.
AP Newsroom reported that the party additionally accused the government of freezing its bank accounts over tax issues, lending it another crippling blow before a pivotal time as India’s general election will be held from April 19 to June 1.
The election consists of a minimum of 65 varying elections, making it one of the biggest in the world.
Time Magazine reported on Tuesday that YouTube allegedly approved ads promoting violence and disinformation ahead of the pivotal moment for India’s political scene.
Thankfully, the ads were pulled, as they were part of an investigation from Global Witness and Access Now in conjunction with the news outlet.
“Frankly, we weren’t expecting such a despicable result,” Senior Policy Counsel at Access Now Namrata Maheshwari said, according to Time. “We thought they would do better at at least catching the English ads, but they didn’t, which means the problem is not the language — it’s more also a problem of which countries they’re choosing to focus on.”
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