Thousands of people rally in India as opposition and Modi campaign for election begins

In India, an alliance of Indian opposition parties launched its election campaign with a massive Sunday rally that criticized the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for suppressing opponents and undermining democracy ahead of next month's national elections, UNN reports citing AP.

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The "Save Democracy" rally in New Delhi was the first major demonstration of the strength of India's opposition bloc. Modi on Sunday also launched the official campaign for the elections, which will last six weeks, starting on April 19.

Opposition leaders addressed a flag-waving crowd and criticized the Modi government for arresting several of their colleagues, including senior New Delhi elected official Arvind Kejriwal, on March 21. The leaders called the arrests undemocratic and accused Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using federal agencies to undermine the opposition, the newspaper said.

In January, Hemant Soren, formerly the chief minister of the eastern state of Jharkhand, was arrested.

"This battle is to protect the nation, democracy, the constitution, the future of the nation, the youth, the farmers and the women. This battle is for justice and truth," Deepender Singh Hooda, a member of the opposition Congress party, told reporters at the rally.

"Narendra Modi wants to stifle democracy and deprive people of the opportunity to elect the government of their choice," wrote opposition leader Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party, who attended Sunday's rally, to dX.

Modi launched his campaign for a third term from the city of Meerut, about 100 kilometers north of New Delhi. Modi said the opposition was concerned about the administration's crackdown on corruption. "While Modi's mantra is to eradicate corruption, their (opposition parties') credo is to protect the corrupt," he said.

Addendum

Kejriwal's arrest is seen as a setback for the opposition bloc, which is the BJP's main rival in the elections.

The BJP denies persecution of the opposition and claims that law enforcement agencies are acting independently.