Arvind Kejriwal blames Sonia Gandhi for his detention

New Delhi, Aug 26: After staging a series of protests over

here and in three different state capitals right from the morning, India Against Corruption (IAC) called off their agitation around 4 o' clock in the afternoon.

"Today's protest is over. We will carry out more protests in the days ahead," IAC member Sanjay Singh told reporters. His associate Arvind Kejriwal, who was at the forefront of the protest here, said that he and the other activists were detained by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and not the Delhi Police.

Kejriwal had started the day by squatting on the Race Course Road near Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence. Post his arrest for violating prohibitory orders, Kejriwal asked: "What wrong are we doing? We are just sitting quietly on the footpath."

Pressure from IAC supporters meant that the police released him within two hours. Subsequently, Kejriwal went to Jantar Mantar where he and other IAC members addressed hundreds of IAC supporters.

Kejriwal accused the Congress and BJP of looting Rs 1.86 lakh crore in the coal scam. Describing the ruling party and the main constituent of the NDA as two sides of the same coin, he urged the voters not to vote for either in the forthcoming elections.

Slamming the allocation of coal blocks to private companies, Kejriwal wanted to know why the government is not cancelling the licenses for the same. He alleged that CPI-M, BJP and BJD had given the wrong advice to the UPA government on the auction of coal.

Around 1.15 p.m, he marched to the Race Course Road and claimed that the whole nation is behind IAC. "This is people's anger against corruption, breaking all barriers. The movement has been converted into revolution from protest," Kejriwal asserted.

At 2.10 p.m, he was again taken into custody along with senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan. However, somebody punctured the tyres of the bus in which Kejriwal was being taken to the police station. Shortly after this, he was let off.

By then, the IAC's protest had been suspended even though Bhushan and other IAC members were still in detention at the Parliament Street Police station.

OneIndia News