Kejriwal will continue to work as Delhi CM, to run govt from jail: AAP

Arvind Kejriwal will continue as the Delhi chief minister, the AAP said soon after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday evening in an excise policy-linked money-laundering case.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also alleged that the ED has become a "political tool" of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre.

Kejriwal's arrest, the first of a sitting chief minister, came hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant protection to the AAP national convenor from any coercive action by the agency.

"He will continue as the chief minister of Delhi. If need be, he will run the government from jail. There is no rule that stops him from running the government from jail since he has not been convicted," Delhi minister Atishi told reporters.

The AAP alleged a "huge conspiracy" behind Kejriwal's arrest ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

In a post in Hindi on X, the party said: "Hold the torches of revolution. The time has come for total revolution. The dictatorial government that is trampling the country, the time has come to overthrow it."

As ED officials reached Kejriwal's residence in north Delhi's Civil Lines on Thursday evening, a protest erupted, with party leaders and workers gathering in large numbers there.

Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, Delhi ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi and other AAP leaders and workers gathered outside the chief minister's residence.

Security was beefed up in the area with the deployment of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) units, along with Delhi Police personnel.

The crowd swelled outside Kejriwal's residence and raised slogans like "tyranny will not last".

Slogans like "AAP zindabad", "Arvind Kejriwal zindabad" and "Arvind bhai tum sangharsh karo, hum tumhare sath hain" were also raised by the party workers.

The Delhi Police detained around two dozen AAP workers, including MLAs, who were trying to block the road near the chief minister's residence.

Barricades were put up on the lane leading to Kejriwal's official residence in Civil Lines and additional police personnel deployed there, officials said. Traffic movement in the area was affected following the security arrangements and protests.

"Two companies of the RAF with anti-riot gear were deployed. The local police and force from the nearby police stations were also called in," an officer said.

Soon after Kejriwal's arrest, Atishi said the AAP's legal team was heading to the residence of the Supreme Court registrar to ask for an urgent hearing.

In a post on X, the AAP leader said, "We have moved the Supreme Court for quashing the arrest of Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal, by ED. We have asked for an urgent hearing by the Supreme Court tonight itself."

Sources, however, said the top court is likely to hear the AAP leader's plea against his arrest on Friday.

Earlier in the day, AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha said Kejriwal has the blessings of crores of people.

"Just before the Lok Sabha election, a big conspiracy is on to arrest Arvind Kejriwal ji.... The wonderful work done in Delhi and Punjab is being discussed all over the world. You can arrest Kejriwal's body but not Kejriwal's thinking," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

The BJP demanded Kejriwal's resignation on moral grounds, saying the high court has refused to protect him from arrest by the ED.

"They (AAP leaders) are saying a Kejriwal will emerge from every household. What kind of language is this? Will you speak the language of hooligans and create a ruckus? Everyone has to follow the rule of law," Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.

He sought to know what kind of ideology the AAP leaders are talking about.

"Is doing corruption an ideology? Giving sub-standard medicines, the liquor scam, corruption in the Delhi Jal Board -- are these your ideology?" the BJP leader asked.

Hitting out at the BJP, Atishi alleged that the entire episode shows how scared Prime Minister Narendra Modi is of Kejriwal.

"He (Modi) has hatched a conspiracy to send him (Kejriwal) to jail before the Lok Sabha election," she told reporters.

Soon after Kejriwal's arrest, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said targeting the AAP leader during elections is wrong and unconstitutional, and lowering the level of politics in such a manner neither suits the prime minister nor the BJP-led Centre.

Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely and party workers reached the chief minister's residence to join the AAP leaders and workers in their protest.

The AAP and the Congress have formed an alliance in Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana and Goa for the Lok Sabha election.

Goel said everyone is in agreement over the fact that the chief minister will run the government from inside the jail.

Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi said "it is a political conspiracy and the residents of the city love him (Kejriwal)".

"The BJP thinks if it gets Kejriwal arrested, it will be able to finish the AAP. It is highly mistaken," AAP leader Durgesh Pathak told PTI.