Indian court extends opposition leader Kejriwal’s detention, as Modi casts vote

NEW DELHI: An Indian court extended the pre-trial detention of opposition leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal until May 20 on Tuesday, legal news website Live Law reported, weeks before the capital votes in national elections.

India votes as Modi escalates his rhetoric against Muslims

The country’s financial crime-fighting agency arrested Kejriwal – a staunch critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – on March 21 in connection with corruption allegations relating to Delhi’s liquor policy, charges his party has denied.

He has been in pre-trial detention since April 1.

MODI CASTS VOTE IN HOME STATE

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi voted early on Tuesday as India held the third phase of a massive general election, when seats in his home state Gujarat and 10 other regions will be decided.

The world’s most populous nation began voting on April 19 in a seven-phase election in which nearly one billion people are eligible to vote, with ballots set to be counted on June 4.

Modi is seeking a rare, third straight term in a vote which pits his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against an alliance of more than two dozen opposition parties. Surveys suggest he will win a comfortable majority.

Hamas reportedly accepts ceasefire plan proposed by mediators

Modi cast his ballot in the Gandhinagar constituency where his number two, Home Minister Amit Shah, is the BJP candidate.

He urged citizens to actively participate in the “festival of democracy”, while taking care of their health as summer temperatures continued to rise in many parts of the country.