Thousands of individuals on Sunday attended a rally by an alliance of India’s opposition parties that criticized the federal government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of stifling opponents and undermining democratic establishments forward of a national election subsequent month.

The “Save Democracy” rally was the primary main public demonstration by the opposition bloc INDIA towards the arrest of New Delhi’s prime elected official and opposition chief Arvind Kejriwal on March 21.

Kejriwal was arrested by the federal Enforcement Directorate, which is managed by Modi’s authorities, on fees that his social gathering and state ministers had accepted 1 billion rupees ($12 million) in bribes from liquor contractors almost two years in the past. The Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man’s Party, denied the accusations and has stated Kejriwal would stay as New Delhi’s chief minister whereas the court docket decides on the following step.

“This battle is to safeguard the nation, democracy, constitution, future of the nation, youth, farmers and women. This battle is for justice and truth,” Deepender Singh Hooda, a lawmaker of the opposition Congress social gathering, instructed reporters on the rally.

Kejriwal’s arrest is seen as a setback for the opposition bloc that’s the fundamental challenger to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, within the elections to be held over six weeks starting April 19.

Opposition leaders have criticized Kejriwal’s arrest as undemocratic and accused the BJP of utilizing the federal company to undermine them, pointing to a sequence of arrests and corruption investigations towards key opposition figures.

The BJP denies concentrating on the opposition and says regulation enforcement companies act independently.

“Narendra Modi wants to strangle democracy and take away the option from the people to choose the government of their choice,” opposition chief Rahul Gandhi from the Congress social gathering, who took half in Sunday’s rally, wrote on X.