Khurshid resignation: Kejriwal to protest indefinitely till PM meets him

Amid high drama, Arvind Kejriwal and about 100 activists, including disabled people, were detained today, after they were stopped from marching towards Prime Minister's residence demanding the resignation of Salman Khurshid alleging irregularities by an NGO run by him.

Kejriwal and around 100 activists of Rashtriya Vikalang Party (RVP) and India Against Corruption marched towards Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Race Course Road residence from Janpath around noon but were prevented from moving ahead after about 50 metres into their march.

Waving tricolor and raising slogans against Khurshid, the protesters sat infront of barricades manned by a large number of police personnel.

Kejriwal then announced that the day-long protest will now be an indefinite one till Khurshid resigns from the Cabinet. He also demanded the arrest of the Minister and his wife Louise Khurshid, who is the project director of the NGO Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust.

However, around 3 pm, police asked the protesters including Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai, to end the protest on the road, and three-four of their leaders could be taken to Prime Minister's residence.

This was rejected by the activists and soon, police detained all of them. Activists, including Kejriwal, whose shirt was torn, alleged that they were manhandled.

Kejriwal was taken to Bawana in a police van while other activists were taken to Parliament Street Police Station.

He said now this is a fight to finish and "now let's make this place another Tahrir Square", in a reference to the uprising in Egypt last year which led to the overthrowing of the Hosni Mubarak regime.

Kejriwal-led IAC had been maintaining that it was a protest programme by RVP and they were just guests. But after Kejriwal's protest IAC started sending text messages asking people to join the protest.

Kejriwal claimed he had sought time from the Prime Minister but his office refused to give him and disabled people any appointment.

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