Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Calls Indian PM Narendra Modi ‘Coward, Psychopath,’ Says Federal Investigators Raided His Office

Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the state of Delhi, called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “coward and a psychopath” after federal investigators raided his administration's headquarters in the Delhi secretariat Tuesday. Kejriwal has been long involved in a fight with the central government and has accused it of so-called vendetta politics.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids after corruption allegations against Kejriwal’s Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar. The accusations against Kumar stem from issuance of tenders to a company he founded before becoming the secretary of information technology in the National Capital Territory of Delhi government in 2007. However, Kejriwal defended Kumar saying that he was "one of my most trusted officers," NDTV reported. He also questioned why the CBI did not inform his government before conducting the raids at his office.

The CBI issued a statement saying that it raided only Kumar’s office, the Tribune newspaper reported. Fourteen places were raided in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi in connection to the case. The CBI also said that it has registered a case against Kumar on the charge of “abusing his official position,” according to the newspaper.

But, Kejriwal insisted that his office was also raided. "CBI lying. My own office raided. Files of CM office are being looked into. Let Modi say which file he wants?" Kejriwal wrote in a post on his official Twitter account.

R. K. Gaur, a spokesman for the CBI, told Agence France-Presse that Kejriwal's office was not among the places it raided Tuesday. "We are investigating a case against a staffer from the chief minister's office," Gaur said. "Our team didn't raid the chief minister's office but restricted entry to certain area."

Kejriwal and Modi have been rivals since the two stood against each other in the 2014 general election in Varanasi constituency in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Although Kejriwal lost that election, his Aam Aadmi Party won by a landslide over Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi state elections early this year.