The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday cited “reliable information” and claimed the federal agencies are planing to arrest Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as the party’s imminent national poll pact with the Congress has rattled the BJP and disturbed its political calculations while the Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva rejected the AAP claims as baseless and said they reflected Kejriwal’s frustration.

While the AAP leaders   did not say in which case Kejriwal is likely to be arrested,  they claimed  that this was being done to prevent the AAP from stitching an alliance with the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as the BJP is scared of the two parties coming together. While there was no immediate response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to the AAP's claims, the BJP said AAP leaders are trying to create confusion and generate sympathy for Kejriwal.

Addressing a press conference here, Delhi cabinet minister and senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said as soon as reports of finalisation of seat-sharing talks between the Congress and the AAP started coming in, the ED sent a seventh summons to Kejriwal in the excise policy case. "We have learnt from reliable sources that the CBI is planning to arrest Kejriwal. The CBI will also serve a notice to Kejriwal either this afternoon or by the evening," Bharadwaj said. Kejriwal will be arrested in the next two to three days, he said.

"We are getting messages that if the AAP-Congress alliance is formed, Arvind Kejriwal will be arrested. The BJP is scared of the AAP-Congress alliance. You can arrest Kejriwal if you want, but the alliance will be forged," he said.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak said people will take to the streets if Kejriwal is arrested. "There will be a tsunami. Their (BJP) political calculations will go wrong. We are not scared of being arrested. We are forging this alliance for the country," he said.

Delhi minister Gopal Rai on Friday lashed out at the BJP and alleged that the Centre has been planning to arrest AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal by serving him a notice through CBI. Addressing a press conference here, Rai alleged that the CBI has been preparing a notice under CrPC 41A (notice of appearance before police officer) for Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal.   "BJP has been frustrated ever since the opposition formed the INDIA bloc. The BJP-led central government has been planning to arrest Arvind Kejriwal by serving him a notice through CBI. We got to know that a notice is being prepared under CrPC 41A and thereafter, they plan to arrest him," he alleged.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said Kejriwal knows that the talks on the AAP's alliance with the Congress are failing but AAP leaders have been spreading rumours since Thursday and are trying to generate sympathy for the chief minister. "Kejriwal may delay his punishment with the help of lawyers but ultimately, the people of Delhi will punish him harshly in the coming elections," the BJP leader said. The AAP and Kejriwal should remember that Congress leader Ajay Maken had submitted the first written complaint to the lieutenant governor regarding the liquor "scam" under his government, Sachdeva said. The BJP won all the seven seats in Delhi with 51 per cent votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and 59 per cent in 2019. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the people of Delhi will give 70 per cent votes to the BJP, he asserted.

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri slammed the AAP leaders saying they are trying to set a different narrative ahead of the Lok Sabha polls that Kejriwal will be arrested after seat sharing agreement in Delhi. First, they propagated that ED will arrest Kejriwal. Now, they are making noise that CBI will arrest Kejriwal for making seat sharing deal in Delhi.  Actually AAP leaders want to see him (Kejriwal) behind the bar,” Bidhuri said.

The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to Kejriwal asking him to appear before it for questioning in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case on February 26, sources said on Thursday. This is the seventh summons issued by the ED to the chief minister, who skipped the previous six.