The Aam Aadmi Party has decided to boycott the President's address in Rajya Sabha on Thursday to protest the arrest of Delhi CM and the party's convenor Arvind Kejriwal. AAP MP Sandeep Pathak said the decision was the party's own and the INDIA bloc is not involved in the boycott.
"Today we will protest in the Rajya Sabha against the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and we will boycott the President's address. The President and the Constitution are supreme and when dictatorship is done in the name of justice, it is important to raise our voices. We did not have a discussion with the remaining parties of the INDIA alliance regarding this but our party will boycott the President's address," Pathak said.
President Droupadi Murmu is likely to highlight the Narendra Modi government's aims and objectives in the next five years and put forth her expectations from the 18th Lok Sabha. Article 87 of the Constitution of India says: "At the commencement of the first session after each general election to the House of the People and at the commencement of the first session of each year the President shall address both Houses of Parliament assembled together and inform Parliament of the causes of its summons."
The Rajya Sabha's session will begin on Thursday, June 27, after the President's address.
Kejriwal's Arrest By CBI
The AAP's boycott of the President's address comes a day after the CBI placed Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal under arrest in the excise policy case. On Wednesday, the AAP urged its INDIA bloc partners to support it in the protest against the Centre and the central investigative agencies.
So far the SP, the CPI, and the CPI(M) have extended active support to the AAP's protest.
The AAP has 14 MPs in Parliament, including Swati Maliwal in Rajya Sabha. Three of them are in Lok Sabha and the rest are in Rajya Sabha.