Arvind Kejriwal is in Ahmedabad on a two-day visit
Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged that Gujarat Police searched their offices in Ahmedabad last evening and left without finding anything. Ahmedabad police, however, has denied conducting any such raid.
The police apparently said they will be coming back again, tweeted the party's Gujarat leader Isudan Gadhvi. The BJP is "shocked by the public support AAP is getting," said Mr Kejriwal, who reached Ahmedabad on a two-day Gujarat tour this evening.
"Gujarat Police raid on Aam Aadmi Party's Ahmedabad office as soon as Kejriwal reached Ahmedabad. Searched for two hours. Nothing found. Said he would come again," read the tweet by Isudan Gadhvi.
"The BJP is horrified by the immense support it is getting from the people of Gujarat. A storm is brewing in Gujarat in favour of AAP. After Delhi, now started raiding in Gujarat too. Nothing was found in Delhi, nothing was found in Gujarat also. We are staunchly honest and patriotic people," read a rough translation of Mr Kejriwal's tweet.
Ahmedabad police took to Twitter this morning to deny that any such raid was conducted.
"The news that the Aam Aadmi Party office has been raided by the police has come to light through social media. No such raids have been carried out by the city police," it said.
In response, Mr Gadhvi said that three police officers had come for the raids. "They did not have any warrant or document. It is evident that the raid was unofficial. There was no mention of it in records. This is the BJP's style of harassing people in Gujarat."
Speaking to the media, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said Ahmedabad police denied the raid "because they didn't find anything".
AAP, which is at loggerheads with the BJP, has come under the scanner of the central investigative agencies in Delhi and Punjab.
Last month, Mr Kejriwal's deputy Manish Sisodia's premises were searched by the Central Bureau of Investigation over an alleged scam in the liquor policy.
In Punjab, the Enforcement Directorate raided several premises linked to AAP MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjan Majra. AAP said the raid on the legislator from the Amargarh assembly constituency, was political vendetta.
Mr Kejriwal is trying to carve a niche in Gujarat, which has been ruled by the BJP for decades. In repeated visits to the state, he has claimed that the BJP has been unnerved by the growing popularity of AAP, which is ruling in Delhi and Punjab.
In May, several AAP members were detained after they held protests against police action on councillors in Surat outside BJP offices. In Surat, AAP protesters led by its state unit chief Gopal Italia and BJP workers clashed during the day, leading to injuries to some.
Sharing a video of party workers being thrashed, Mr Kejriwal tweeted, "Look at these goons. Beating openly. They have created hooliganism across the country. Will the country progress like this? They will never give good education, employment to your children, because they want unemployed goons for politics. All patriotic youth must unite against them".