Senior BJP leader Kalyan Singh was arrested on Sunday in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh while he was on his way to riot-affected Gorakhpur.
The BJP vice-president was earlier detained at Chinhat in the Barabanki district border following which he sat on a dharna along with his supporters.
He was later arrested and taken to the Barabanki police lines from where he was shifted to the district jail, police said.
Earlier, speaking to reporters, Singh said he was going to Ayodhya to pay obeisance at the makeshift Ram temple at the dispute site before heading for Gorakhpur.
Singh alleged that the state government had "surrendered before the fundamentalist forces" and that was why it disallowed him to pay obeisance in Ayodhya and visit the violence-hit areas in Gorakhpur.