India’s opposition figure gets temporary bail before final round of elections

India’s top court has granted temporary bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal weeks before the seventh and final phase of national elections are held. 

Kejriwal was detained for his alleged involvement in a corruption case, which the opposition slammed as a political move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration against one of his opponents.

The quinquagenarian chief minister received a warm welcome from his political party Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with people waving flags and chanting praises, “Long live Kejriwal,” as he stepped out of the prison on Friday.

The Supreme Court ruled that the temporary bail will be in effect until June 1, which is the final day of the seven-phase elections that started last month, and Kejriwal must report for surrender on June 2.

“I want to thank all of you... you gave me your blessings. I want to thank the judges of the Supreme Court; it is because of them that I am in front of you. We have to save the country from dictatorship,” Kejriwal said.

He was detained on March 21 by the the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the country’s financial crime-fighting agency, over his alleged involvement in a liquor scam, which he has denied while calling his arrest “illegal”.

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Controlled by Modi’s government, the ED claimed that AAP and its ministers accepted $12 million in bribes from liquor contractors nearly two years ago.

Both critics and Modi’s opponents have charged that the integrity of the poll has been tarnished as his administration is employing investigative agencies to harm opponents, depriving them of a fair and equal opportunity amid parliamentary elections, which the government refutes.

While incarcerated, Kejriwal remained in office and his party said that he was effectively governing the Delhi government from behind bars.

The ED objected to his bail on Friday, arguing that allowing Kejriwal to campaign would suggest unequal judicial standards for politicians and ordinary citizens.

“The right to campaign for an election is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right and not even a legal right,” it said, adding that Kejriwal is not a candidate in these elections.

In India’s ongoing six-week-long general election which commenced on April 19, a coalition of opposition parties, which includes AAP, is the main competitor against Modi’s incumbent Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The AAP is part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a multi-party political alliance of several political parties led by India’s largest opposition and oldest party the Indian National Congress, which seeks to uproot the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by the BJP.

The AAP alone is a strong competitor against the BJP in Delhi and the northern state of Punjab, where elections are scheduled to be held on May 25 and June 1, respectively.

The results of the largest election in the world will be declared on June 4, with critics saying that Modi, who is seeking a third consecutive term, has engaged in a divisive campaign.

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