HUNDREDS of protesters in India’s capital took to the streets for a second day on Saturday to demand the immediate release of one of the top rivals of far-right Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The arrest of Arvind Kejriwal comes as the country gears up for a national election next month.

Mr Kejriwal, New Delhi’s top elected official, was arrested by the federal Enforcement Directorate on Thursday night. 

The agency, controlled by Mr Modi’s government, accused Mr Kejriwal’s party and ministers of accepting 1 billion rupees (£9.5 million) in bribes from liquor contractors nearly two years ago.

His Common Man’s Party (AAP) denied the accusations and on Friday said that Mr Kejriwal would remain Delhi’s chief minister as it took the matter to court.

Mr Kejriwal’s wife Sunita posted a message on the X social media site on Saturday from her detained husband which said he wasn’t surprised by the arrest and warned against “several forces within and outside India that are weakening the country.”

Protesters chanted “Kejriwal is Modi’s doom” and “dictatorship won’t be tolerated” as they accused Mr Modi of using federal law enforcement agencies to stifle opposition parties before the election.

AAP leader and chief minister of neighbouring Punjab state Bhagwant Mann joined the protest alongside some state cabinet ministers.

Punjab’s health minister Balbir Singh told reporters that Mr Kejriwal’s arrest “is a murder of democracy” and accused Mr Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of having turned “the rule of law upside down.”

The AAP is part of a broad alliance of 40 opposition parties called Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (India), which includes the biggest opposition party, Congress, as well as the Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist).

His arrest is another setback for the bloc and came after the Congress party accused the government on Thursday of freezing its bank accounts in a tax dispute to cripple it.