AAP MPs boycott President's address to Parliament

New Delhi : AAPMPs boycotted President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Thursday to protest against the arrest of party convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal was on Wednesday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the alleged excise policy scam being probed by it.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh submitted a notice of special mention to the Rajya Sabha secretariat on the "misuse" of investigative agencies, the party said in a statement. AAP MPs boycotted the President's address to the joint sitting of the Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha.

They claimed the address was written by the Central government, while maintaining that they had full respect for her. Later they protested against Kejriwal's arrest outside the Parliament and alleged it "was a gross misuse of investigation agencies".

They held placards that read 'ED, CBI ka durupyog bandh karo' (stop the misuse of ED, CBI), 'Taanashahi nahi chalegi' (dictatorship will not be allowed), 'Kejriwal ko riha karo' (free Kejriwal), and raised slogans such as 'PM Jawab do' (answer us, PM).

"The protest is against dictatorship. This protest is to protect the Constitution and democracy. Today an elected chief minister was arrested and put behind bars. We are asking the prime minister to stop the misuse of investigative agencies and release Kejriwal," AAP MP Sanjay Singh said during the protest.

"We are boycotting the President's address since it is written by the government. We will participate in the discussion and do the job of waking up the government," Singh said.