'India's Democracy Now Hitlershahi': Kharge, Cong Leaders Slam Modi Govt Over Pawan Khera Arrest

Pawan Khera boarded an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Raipur, where the party’s plenary session is set to be held on February 24-26. However, before the flight could take off, Khera was asked to deboard.

New Delhi: The arrest of senior Congress leader Pawan Khera by Assam Police shows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has turned Indian democracy into ‘Hitlershahi’, said party president Mallikarjun Kharge who strongly condemned Khera’s arrest on Thursday.

Taking to Twitter, Kharge wrote in Hindi, “Notice is given if the Opposition raises issues in the Parliament. Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids are conducted on our leaders of Chhattisgarh ahead of the Congress plenary session. Today our media department chairman was forcibly taken off the plane and arrested. The Modi government has turned India's democracy into a Hitlershahi. We strongly condemn this dictatorship.”

Earlier in the day, Pawan Khera, along with several other Congress leaders had boarded an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Raipur, where the party’s plenary session is set to be held on February 24-26. However, before the flight could take off, Khera was asked to deboard. He was later arrested by Assam Police.

Hitting out at the move to arrest the Congress leader, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted, “While going from Delhi to Raipur to attend the Congress session, senior Congress leader Mr. Pawan Kheda was taken off the flight by the Assam Police. What was the emergency that the Assam Police came to Delhi and did this act? Earlier ED raids in Raipur and now such act shows BJP's fury. This is condemnable.”

“The manner in which Pawan Khera was taken off the flight today is unfortunate,” Gehlot added.

“They wanted to make big news, so they arrested Pawan Khera. Also, 24 hours before Congress session in Chhattisgarh, CM’s close aides and Congress leaders were raided by ED and CBI. They’re choking the opposition parties. This is emergency,” Sanjay Raut, MP, Uddhav Thackeray Faction, said.

Notably earlier on February 17, while taking a jibe at PM Modi over his alleged proximity to Gautam Adani, Pawan Khera had referred to the prime minister as ‘Narendra Gautamdas Modi,’ instead of ‘Narendra Damodardas Modi'; Damodardas Modi is the name of the PM's late father.