Arvind Kejriwal was detained by the Delhi Police outside his Lodhi Estate residence on October 10 while he was on his way to join an Aam Aadmi Party protest at Jantar Mantar, according to a report by The Hindu. The demonstration is seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of “vote theft”.
The former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener was detained along with other party leaders as the party mobilised supporters for the protest in central Delhi. A video shared by Mr. Kejriwal on X showed him inside a police bus alongside AAP MP Sanjay Jha.
Mr. Kejriwal urged people to join the demonstration in large numbers. The protest followed his announcement on October 9 that he and his family would attend the event and his appeal to young people to participate in the demand for the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation.
Earlier on Saturday, Mr. Kejriwal criticised the security arrangements in central Delhi, describing the clampdown intended to prevent the protest as “worse than Emergency”. The Hindu reported that the police action also involved the detention of senior AAP leaders before the demonstration at Jantar Mantar.
AAP leader Atishi Marlena alleged in a post on X that Mr. Kejriwal had been “brutally taken into custody” for demanding Mr. Kumar’s resignation. Her statement referred to the party’s allegation that electoral irregularities had taken place, but the material supplied in the report does not establish those allegations as fact.
Mr. Kejriwal also commented on the detention of party leaders, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “scared” and referring to those detained as “cockroaches”. The statements were made in the context of the AAP’s protest campaign and its demand for action against the Chief Election Commissioner.
The detention places central Delhi’s protest-management arrangements at the centre of the day’s political confrontation. Jantar Mantar is an officially designated site for demonstrations, while the movement of large political groups through areas around government institutions and senior politicians’ residences is subject to police regulation.
The report did not specify the legal provision under which Mr. Kejriwal was detained, how long he would remain in custody, or whether the police had issued a formal statement on the action. It also did not provide details of the number of people detained or the conditions under which the protest would proceed.
The AAP’s demonstration and its demand for the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner remain the next scheduled developments identified in the supplied report. Further police or party statements would be required to establish the grounds for the detention and the status of the protest.
