Ostensibly, the raids were being conducted to find dirt on the Delhi government’s Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar who was alleged to have set up companies supplying goods to the government without tenders.
Kejriwal, however, chose to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him a “coward” and “psychopath” in one of his tweets.
CBI lying. My own office raided. Files of CM office are being looked into. Let Modi say which file he wants?
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 15, 2015
Modi is a coward and a psycopath
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 15, 2015
Mamata Di. This is undeclared emergency https://t.co/l1EQOTfrFy
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 15, 2015
As the events unfolded, Kejriwal and his ministers insisted that the Delhi chief minister was being targeted even as the Bharatiya Janata Party spokespersons claimed that the CBI being an independent body was acting on its own behalf and there was no agenda being carried out against the Aam Aam Aadmi Party leader.
“It is an officer who has been searched,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told Rajya Sabha. “The raids have nothing to do with Kejriwal or his office. The raids were conducted on the officer's office on a complaint filed before he joined the Delhi CM's office.”
By Tuesday afternoon, the details of what exactly unfolded in the Delhi secretariat were still thin and unclear but that didn’t stop social media from erupting in a storm. Between the usual mud-slinging and trading of barbs between party supporters, Twitterati found time to make fun of the situation and targeted not only the CBI but the Delhi Chief minister as well. Here’s a selection:
Modi is a cupboard and a cycle path.
— Abhishek Madan (@abhishekmadan) December 15, 2015
Breaking - CBI finds 2 bottles of suspected fake cough syrup in Kejriwal's office. Sent to Patanjali lab for testing.
— Don (@xtahzy) December 15, 2015
First images of CBI officials outside @ArvindKejriwal 's office. #Exclusivepic.twitter.com/Sb1xdZ2Ccc
— Rahul Srinivas (@whizkidd) December 15, 2015
someone in his own party, should take away Mr.Kejriwal's twitter access for one hour after any event. it may make him sound less silly.
— Harini Calamur (@calamur) December 15, 2015
At this point, might as well just term the CBI the Modi government's goon squad.
— IndiaExplained (@IndiaExplained) December 15, 2015
CBI is very independent. They quickly briefed Arun Jaitley on specific charges so that he can give a statement in Parliament. Funny.
— Krupakar Manukonda (@krupakar_m) December 15, 2015
Ashutosh reaction after CBI raid pic.twitter.com/2F3bM0xUxI
— Saurabh Tyagi (@imsktyagii) December 15, 2015
CBI car has odd no. and it's Tuesday today. Is this fair?
— Arvind Kejriwal (@Being_Humor) December 15, 2015
2 Mufflers 6 Reynolds Pen 2 Floaters/Slippers 3 Sweaters and Loads of Work in progress, promises fulfilled reports. Thats all CBI wil find
— DaaruBaaz Mehta (@DaaruBaazMehta) December 15, 2015
PM Narendra Modi conducting an aerial survey of Arvind Kejriwal's tweet. pic.twitter.com/EfwwI3JAvh
— Akshar (@AksharPathak) December 15, 2015
As per Kejriwal Sir, exclusive pics of CBI team that raided his office. #YoAapSoCongress @nehabahl17 @Suvasit pic.twitter.com/DB0kP9IXYG
— Vishal Tyagi (@majbootbharat) December 15, 2015
Journalist: "So what did you learn from the raid on Kejriwal's office?" CBI: "We learnt that he has given 3 stars to Hate Story 3"
— The UnReal Times (@TheUnRealTimes) December 15, 2015
CBI recovers pirated DVDs and torrents from Kejriwal' office.
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) December 15, 2015