Kejriwal: CBI raid on Punjab CM office is BJP panic
Synopsis
AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal condemned a CBI raid on Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann's office two months before state elections, calling it BJP's desperation, and predicted AAP would win 100-plus seats.
Key Takeaways
The CBI raided the Punjab Chief Minister's office approximately two months before the state assembly election.
Kejriwal labelled the raid a sign of BJP 'panic' rather than a legitimate investigation.
He cited the farmers' movement , Punjab river-water rights , and the Punjab University dispute as evidence of a pattern of Centre-Punjab friction under BJP rule.
Kejriwal accused BJP of using ED and CBI as electoral tools because it cannot win Punjab through votes alone.
He predicted Bhagwant Mann will return as Chief Minister with more than 100 seats out of Punjab's 117-seat assembly.
Two months before Punjab goes to the polls, the Central Bureau of Investigation raided the Punjab Chief Minister's office — and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal fired back on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, calling the move a sign of the ruling party's desperation, not due process.
In a sharp post in Hindi, Kejriwal charged that the CBI raid was the product of bौखलाहट ('panic' or 'frenzy') within the BJP as elections approach. 'Ever since the BJP government came to power at the Centre, it has always pushed Punjabis around,' he said, citing the farmers' agitation, the dispute over Punjab's river waters, and the ongoing tussle over Punjab University as a running pattern of what he called federal overreach.
A raid on Bhagwant Mann's office, two months out
The CBI action targeted the office of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the AAP government's face in Punjab. Kejriwal framed it as the Centre now turning its investigative machinery on a democratically elected chief minister — the latest in a sequence of pressure tactics he attributes to the BJP's inability to beat AAP on the ground. 'BJP cannot win Punjab by fighting elections, so it wants to fight elections through the ED and CBI,' he said pointedly.
Kejriwal's 100+ seats forecast for AAP
The AAP convenor closed with a confident electoral prediction: Punjab voters will answer the CBI raid by returning Bhagwant Mann as Chief Minister with more than 100 seats, he declared. Punjab's assembly has 117 seats, making a 100-plus projection a near-sweep. It is a deliberately large number — one designed to signal that the party sees the raid as a political gift rather than a setback.
Kejriwal also invoked three long-standing grievances — the farmers' movement, Punjab's river-water rights, and the Punjab University governance dispute — to argue that the CBI action fits a broader pattern of the Centre treating Punjab as adversarial territory. Whether voters read it the same way is the question the upcoming election will answer.
Point of View
Whatever its legal merit. Kejriwal's swift, combative response follows a well-worn AAP playbook: convert investigative pressure into a victimhood-and-resilience narrative that consolidates its base. His 100-plus seat projection is maximalist by design — it reframes the raid as proof of BJP's fear rather than AAP's vulnerability. Whether the strategy holds depends on whether Punjab voters are genuinely energised by the Centre-versus-state frame, or whether the investigation itself produces substantive findings that shift the conversation.
NationPress
6 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the CBI raid the Punjab Chief Minister's office?
The exact grounds for the CBI raid have not been detailed in Kejriwal's post. He characterised it as politically motivated, done two months before Punjab state elections, but no official CBI statement is referenced.
What did Arvind Kejriwal say about the CBI raid on Punjab CM office?
Kejriwal called the raid the result of BJP's 'panic' ahead of elections, saying the Centre has consistently wronged Punjabis on farmers' issues, river water, and Punjab University, and is now targeting the elected chief minister.
How many seats did Kejriwal predict AAP will win in the Punjab election?
Kejriwal predicted AAP will win more than 100 seats in the upcoming Punjab assembly election, which has a total of 117 seats, and that Bhagwant Mann will become chief minister again.
What is the Punjab University dispute Kejriwal mentioned?
The Punjab University governance dispute relates to a long-running disagreement between the Punjab government and the Centre over control and administration of Chandigarh-based Punjab University, a federally funded institution claimed by Punjab.
Has the BJP-led Centre used CBI or ED against other AAP-governed states?
AAP leaders have repeatedly alleged that the Centre deploys central agencies against non-BJP state governments. Kejriwal himself was arrested in 2024 in a case linked to Delhi's now-scrapped liquor policy, a charge AAP called politically motivated.
