New Delhi:

The India Group’s rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan this afternoon was a massive show of strength, with all major opposition party leaders urging the release of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Leaders have expressed concerns about the health of democracy in the country, accusing the BJP of wiping out the opposition through central investigative agencies. The BJP hit back, claiming the rally was not about saving democracy but a rally to “save families” and “hide corruption”.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra listed five demands made by the opposition to the Election Commission, including providing a level playing field before the elections.

Ms Gandhi Vadra said efforts to forcefully cut the Opposition’s finances should be stopped immediately, but she made no mention of the freeze on Congress funds and the latest income tax notification. Actions by the Enforcement Directorate, Confederation of Indian Industry and Income Tax department should also be stopped, she said while reading out the list of demands.

The alliance has also asked a Supreme Court-monitored special investigation team to probe what they say is the BJP’s “extortion” of funds through the electoral bonds scheme.

Leaders said the ‘Loktantra Bachao rally’ is a sign of the Indian group’s commitment to fight, win and save Indian democracy.

“If the BJP wins these fixed elections and changes the constitution, the country will be on fire,” Congress MP Rahul Gandhi declared. “You have to decide whether you want democracy or dictatorship…Those who support dictatorship need to be kicked out of the country,” party leader Malikajun Haq added.

“A new dynamic in Indian politics is born today… Today, the slogan of independence is raised here… Our Constitution and our republic are protected and this is our independence. We will get this independence,” he said. Sitaram Yechury of CPM.

Punjab Chief Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Bhagwant Mann claimed that Arvind Kejriwal is not a person but an ideology.

“You can arrest Arvind Kejriwal, but how will you arrest him for his ideology? To which jail will you send lakhs of Indian-born Kejriwal?” he reiterated the party’s concern over the The position of arresting the chief minister on the eve of the general election. Mr Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal and Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren were also present at today’s rally.

The arrest unites an opposition group that has made headlines recently for division rather than unity.

A case in point is Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s decision to go it alone in Bengal instead of the agreed-upon sit-sharing scheme. She even said that her membership of the India Group has been put on hold and she will revisit the matter after the elections.

However, her party MP Derek O’Brien today firmly declared that the Trinamool “has been, is and will always be part of the Union of India”. “This is the PPP’s fight against democracy,” he added.

The rally also took place on the same day that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign in Uttar Pradesh. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, however, seemed unfazed.

Mr. Yadav appeared at the rally and said, “These people are raising slogans of ‘400 Pal’. If you are going to win more than 400 seats, then why are you afraid of AAP leaders”.

“You sent the elected chief minister to jail. Not just Indians, the whole world is criticizing this,” he said, without explicitly mentioning comments from the United Nations, the United States and Germany on the issue.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told reporters that the opposition rallies were aimed at covering up their corruption.

“Congress is supporting those who looted the country because Congress also looted during their tenure. From the Pandit Nehru era, the Jeep scam to the Bofors scam; the coal scam to the Commonwealth scam and the 2G scam. All this happened during the Congress regime,” Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said.

“In Ramlila Maidan, those who put dots between the name of the country and talk about saving the country. They are actually trying to save their families… The ‘tukde tukde’ of India is the Congress The DNA of…Yuvraj is that he is not even ready to accept India as a country and he is also asking for interference from foreign territories,” said the BJP’s Shehzad Poonawala.