New Delhi: Be it inside jail or outside, his life is dedicated to the nation, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday as hundreds of AAP workers and leaders took the streets against the BJP over his arrest, raising slogans of “Arvind tum sangharsh karo, hum tumhare sath hain” and “tyranny won’t last”. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case on Thursday evening. During their demonstration outside the AAP headquarters on the Rouse Avenue Road and the ITO intersection in Central Delhi, more than 150 demonstrators, including Cabinet ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, were detained by police. They were released later.

In his first reaction since his arrest on Thursday evening, Kejriwal, while being produced before the Rouse Avenue court in the case, told reporters that his life is dedicated to the nation whether he is inside jail or outside.

Several protestors were bungled into buses as they gathered at the ITO intersection around 10.30 am to proceed towards the BJP office on the DDU Marg. Paramilitary personnel in anti-riot gear were also deployed to maintain law and order.

Many AAP workers lay down on the road to resist the police’s attempts to detain them. Women police personnel were seen dragging female protesters, many of whom were demonstrating carrying pictures of Kejriwal.

Following Kejriwal’s arrest, the AAP had given a nationwide call for protest against the BJP on Friday and demonstrations were held across the country, including in Rajasthan, Kerala, Haryana, Punjab, Odisha, Assam, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka, besides Delhi.

The Kejriwal-led party said the BJP’s move to put him behind bars would be its biggest political mistake as the people of Delhi and the country will give a suitable reply to it in the Lok Sabha polls.

The AAP alleged that an “undeclared emergency like situation has arrived in the country”.

There was jostling between AAP workers and police as they tried to detain them. Atishi was seen resisting women police personnel who were trying to stop her from protesting.

Party workers sat down on the road and raised slogans even as police and paramilitary personnel tried to pick them up.

“I have been detained by the Delhi Police while peacefully protesting at ITO. First, these people arrest the chief minister of Delhi in false cases, and now, those participating in peaceful protests are also being arrested. If this isn’t the murder of democracy, then what is?” Atishi posted on X.

Harjot Bains, a minister in the AAP government in Punjab, was also detained by police .

Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal, who has so far maintained distance from politics, said the arrest of her husband was a betrayal with the people of Delhi.

“(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi-ji got your thrice-elected chief minister arrested due to his arrogance of power and is trying to crush everyone. This is a betrayal with the people of Delhi. Your chief minister has always stood with you. Whether inside (jail) or outside, his life is dedicated to the country. The public is supreme and knows everything. Jai Hind,” Sunita Kejriwal said on X.

Sources in the AAP indicated that Sunita Kejriwal is likely to play an active role in politics in the absence of the chief minister. There was no official word from the party.

Addressing a press conference on Friday evening, AAP leader Gopal Rai said the party will not celebrate Holi this year and will gherao the prime minister’s residence on March 26 to register its protest against Kejriwal’s arrest.

Rai alleged that AAP MLAs and councillors were stopped from meeting Kejriwal’s family, even as Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and some AAP legislators did meet the Delhi chief minister’s family members.

Talking to reporters outside Kejriwal’s residence, Mann said that the party stood rock solid behind him. He called Kejriwal a patriot and added he will emerge from this episode a bigger leader.

Commuters faced a harrowing time at ITO, Rajghat and Vikas Marg in the morning as they were hit by heavy traffic congestion due to closure of roads going towards DDU Marg in view of the protest. Roads around the ED Office area in Central Delhi were also closed.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which earlier in the day announced the closure of its ITO station from 8 am to 6 pm, said that the station would remain closed till further notice.

On the advice of the Delhi Police, the Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station, around one kilometres away from the prime minister’s Residence, will also remain closed in addition to ITO Metro station till further notice, it said.

Hours after his detention, Bharadwaj released a video on X from the Alipur police station where he along with his party’s workers are seen singing “Mera rang de basanti chola”.

Bharadwaj alleged that Kejriwal’s family members have been put under house arrest and no one is being allowed to meet them. Kejriwal spent his night at the ED office after his arrest.

The role and responsibilities of top AAP leaders, including its national organisation secretary Sandeep Pathak, Mann, Atishi and Bharadwaj, are likely to grow in view of Kejriwal’s arrest and the Lok Sabha polls.

AAP leaders started a hashtag campaign “IStandWithKejriwal” and “IndiaWithKejriwal” on X.

Hitting out at the AAP, Union Minister and BJP leader Anurag Thakur said AAP leaders are saying that Kejriwal will run the government from jail.

“This is an insult to the people of Delhi, law and democracy. The ED had issued summons nine times, but he (Kejriwal) did not appear before the agency. What was his compulsion not to join the investigation?” Thakur asked while speaking to reporters.