Rajnath Singh Interview | Who is UN to Talk About Indian Elections, Says Defence Minister

Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Friday hit back at the United Nations for commenting on the upcoming parliamentary elections in India in the context of the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor-excise policy case. In an exclusive interview to Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Rajnath Singh asked why Opposition leaders are not getting relief from courts if their arrests are illegal.

“Who is United Nations to talk about free and fair elections in India? Did India not have free and fair elections before this? Weren’t the 2019 elections free and fair? And what about 2014? In fact, I say even before 2014 India had free and fair elections. Where did this issue come from?” the Defence Minister said, lashing out at the world body.

“Let’s assume agencies have made wrongful arrests of chief ministers or deputy chief ministers. Then why are they not getting relief, bail or release from the courts?” he asked.

Last week, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric was asked about the “political unrest” in India ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the wake of the arrest of AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and the freezing of the opposition Congress’s bank accounts.

“What we very much hope that in India, as in any country that is having elections, that everyone’s rights are protected, including political and civil rights, and everyone is able to vote in an atmosphere that is free and fair,” Dujarric had said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday dismissed the senior UN official’s remark, saying he does not need the global body to specify that elections in the country should be “free & fair”.

Jaishankar had added that the UN official made the comment on the Indian elections in response to a “very loaded question” during a press briefing at the UN.

India had also reacted sharply to similar statements by the US and had summoned a senior US diplomat to lodge a strong protest against Washington’s remarks. Before that, on March 23, New Delhi had summoned the German deputy chief of mission and lodged a strong protest against German foreign ministry’s remarks on the arrest of Kejriwal.

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam. The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 that was later scrapped.