Surat: The Surat Crime Branch police on Monday arrested Gujarat Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and national joint secretary Gopal Italia over his controversial comments on Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi at an election rally in November last year.
Italia, also former Gujarat AAP president, was soon granted bail.
Italia, who is part of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal’s core Gujarat team, had in an election speech described the MoS Home as "Drugs Sanghavi" in reference to several narcotics seizures in the State.
Kejriwal slams BJP over Italia's arrest
According to a first information report (FIR) filed by a BJP worker, Italia had “defamed a respectful person”.
Soon after, Kejriwal tweeted that Italia was arrested because the BJP was "shocked" by the AAP's performance in the Gujarat election.
“The BJP is rattled by the AAP’s spectacular performance in Gujarat and so it has arrested our Gujarat leader Gopal Italia. The BJP now has only one aim to finish the Aam Aadmi Party. These people will put everyone in jail one by one," the Delhi Chief Minister tweeted.
His tweet follows his nine-hour long questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday as a “witness to the alleged corruption” in framing Delhi's liquor policy. His ex-deputy Manish Sisodia was arrested last month in the same case.
Italia: BJP is scared
Similarly, Italia also tweeted that the "BJP is scared" in Gujarat. “Ever since the AAPhas shown its strength in Gujarat, the corrupt BJP wants to finish the Aam Aadmi Party. We are not afraid of jail or trial. We will keep fighting anyway, we will win.”
Though the AAP won only five seats in the 182-member Gujarat assembly, it maintained it had performed well given that it made an entry into a third state (after Delhi and Punjab) and got a “national party” status.
Italia, who contested from Katargam seat in Surat , was defeated and so was AAP’s chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
