Aam Aadmi Party leaders in Punjab and Haryana on Thursday slammed the BJP government for the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, alleging the “dictatorial regime was making a mockery of the constitutional norms”. Congress leaders from the two states also took on the Centre after the AAP leader’s arrest.

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday night in an excise policy-linked money laundering case in Delhi.

The arrest, the first of a sitting chief minister, came hours after the Delhi high court refused to grant protection to the AAP national convener from any coercive action by the agency.

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, in a post on X, said, “BJP ki rajnitik team ED Kejriwal ki soch ko qaid nahi kar sakti kyunki AAP hee BJP ko rok sakti hai. Soch ko kabhi bhi dabaya nahi ja sakta. (BJP’s political team ED, cannot imprison Kejriwal’s thinking because only the AAP can stop the BJP. Thinking can never be suppressed).”

Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema also condemned the arrest. “This dictatorial regime is making a mockery of constitutional norms and killing the spirit of democracy by destroying the opposition in every way. This shows the fear of BJP and today’s action is the beginning of the end of BJP,” Cheema posted on X.

AAP’s Haryana unit president Sushil Gupta said, “This is a black day for democracy. The BJP is already trying to destroy the country’s democracy. You have arrested him, how will you stop his ideology?” In a video posted on X, Gupta said that the party’s Haryana unit has decided to gherao chief minister Nayab Singh Saini’s Kurukshetra residence on Friday.

“This period is an undeclared emergency created by BJP. The party, scared of the INDIA alliance, is conspiring to stop Kejriwal. Pressure is being put on him to separate from the INDIA alliance, but BJP does not know that the entire country stands with Kejriwal. I am going to Delhi immediately,” Gupta said.

BJP destroying opposition: Cong leaders

Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring took on the BJP, alleging it is “hell bent upon destroying all opposition by hook or by crook. Just a month before the parliamentary election, INC bank accounts were frozen, making it difficult for opposition to campaign.”

“Then opposition’s Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren was arrested. Now, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested by ED. We strongly condemn this draconian action. This is fascism,” Warring posted on X.

Senior Congress leader and the party’s Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana, Deepender Singh Hooda, alleged the BJP government’s style of targeting opposition leaders by misusing government agencies is nothing new. In the last few years, BJP has done the same work of suppressing all strong voices of opposition in the country, he said.

“There is no such party in the opposition, no such strong leader left in the opposition who is not the target of the BJP government. I consider the arrest of Kejriwal unfortunate but not surprising,” Hooda posted on X.

Senior BJP leader Birender Singh’s son Brijendra Singh, the former Hisar MP who recently quit the saffron party to join the Congress, said: “Kejriwal’s arrest is not just unconstitutional but a glaring sign of political desperation. Resorting to such tactics undermines the very essence of democracy. This is a grave affront to democratic values.”

Punjab cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal alleged that the BJP was punishing Kejriwal for providing excellent schools, hospitals, free electricity and water to the poor and middle-class of Delhi. “The public will answer. You can arrest Kejriwal but how will you stop his thinking?” he said.

AAP Punjab chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said Kejriwal’s arrest over the frivolous Delhi liquor policy money laundering case is a “watershed moment in the political history of India. This could indeed be the last straw for the Modi government,” he said in a post on X.

Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky too condemned the arrest of Kejriwal.

The AAP and the Congress fought the recent mayoral elections in Chandigarh in alliance.

AAP’s real face exposed: SAD

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the arrest of Kejriwal in a serious case of corruption by the ED has “exposed the real face of AAP”.

“The party which came to power by painting the whole political system as corrupt has surpassed all records of corruption in a record time,” Cheema said in a post.