The CBI on Thursday searched the residence of Durgesh Pathak - the Aam Aadmi Party's new co-in-charge for the 2027 Gujarat Assembly election - over alleged violations of the foreign exchange law. Agency sources told news agency ANI the case had been filed 24 hours earlier.
Action by the probe agency - which is also investigating the party's Delhi unit and boss Arvind Kejriwal in the alleged liquor policy scam - has been heavily criticised by senior AAP leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who called the raids "an attempt to instill fear".
Mr Pathak himself has not responded so far.
However, several of his party colleagues have spoken out in support, including Mr Singh and National Secretary Sandeep Pathak, who said that the raids "sends a loud message - Bharatiya Janata Party views the AAP as a growing threat in Gujarat and is rattled by its rising influence".
Sanjay Singh, meanwhile, said the BJP had begun "dirty games" to break the AAP.
"Earlier, every effort was made to stop the AAP. Our leader (Mr Kejriwal) was put in jail, raids were conducted in Punjab and Delhi, and today a similar nefarious attempt has been made..."
"(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi has sent the CBI to the house of the party's PAC member and Gujarat co-in-charge, Durgesh Pathak... because Arvind Kejriwal sent him to Gujarat to strengthen the organisation before the Gujarat election," he told reporters.
The AAP made an impressive debut in the Prime Minister's home state in the 2022 Assembly election, winning five seats and picking up nearly 13 per cent of the vote share.
A similarly strong showing in the state in 2027 will go a long way towards removing the sting of defeat in Delhi, which the AAP ruled for 11 years - twice stymying the BJP's designs.
Jumping on the raids on Durgesh Pathak as a sign of "fear", Sanjay Singh declared, "The BJP's Gujarat condition is bad... people of Gujarat have hope from AAP but they (the BJP) sent the CBI to scare them. Modiji sees the possibility of defeat in Gujarat... we are not going to be scared."
For context, the BJP has controlled Gujarat for 27 years, since Keshubhai Patel led it to victory in the 1998 election. The list of its chief ministers since includes Prime Minister Modi.
Meanwhile, in the inevitable battle of words between the two sides, the BJP's Delhi unit chief has hit back, pointing out that Durgesh Pathak had been in-charge for the 2022 Goa election.
"... everyone knows how funds were used in that election. Arvind Kejriwal is more corrupt than (Rashtriya Janata Dal chief) Lalu Yadav," Virendra Sachdeva, the BJP's Delhi unit boss, said.
The Goa election swipe referred to claims the AAP used illegally generated cash - from the alleged liquor excise policy scam in Delhi - to fund its campaign in the state.
The 6.77 per cent vote share recorded in 2022 Goa election, in which the party also won two seats, was key for the AAP in establishing itself as a national political party.
