Is India’s opposition ‘in disarray’ to challenge Narendra Modi’s BJP in election?

On Sunday, the anti-Modi bloc will hold its first national-level rally in New Delhi in what is seen as a litmus test and a crucial opportunity to cement the alliance of opposition parties.

Kejriwal has denied the charges, while the opposition is arguing that the arrest was a move by Modi to weaponise the law against his political rivals.

“The way the prime minister of the country has been acting like a dictator and suppressing democracy to arrest Kejriwal, all the people in the country who love democracy are angry,” said Gopal Rai, a senior minister in Kejriwal’s government and a member of the AAP, at a press conference last Sunday announcing the public rally.

“And it’s not just about Kejriwal but the way the whole opposition is being targeted one after another with the help of [federal law enforcement] agencies,” Rai added.

Several prominent opposition politicians, including three other senior AAP leaders, have been arrested in recent months on charges of corruption. Another leader who was arrested and remains in prison is Hemant Soren, former chief minister of Jharkhand.

Just hours before Kejriwal’s arrest, the Indian National Congress (INC), the main opposition party, said its bank accounts had been frozen by the tax department owing to a tax dispute dating back to 2018-2019.

Critics say such high-handed measures instigated by the Modi administration are aimed at crippling the opposition and tilting the elections in the prime minister’s favour, even though he enjoys high approval ratings.

Most opinion surveys for the coming election predict Modi will win a third five-year term.

Nearly 40 anti-BJP parties, comprising centre-left and regional groups, joined forces to form the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance