AAP Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha on Saturday arrived at the official residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal amidst the swirling maelstrom of controversy regarding the purported assault on Swati Maliwal.

Chadha had been recuperating in the UK following ocular surgery, which necessitated his prolonged absence. His extended absence raised eyebrows, but the party maintained that he would return once his health was restored. Last month, a Delhi minister revealed that Chadha had developed a grave eye condition that posed a risk of blindness.

Chadha’s return coincides with significant turmoil within his party, exacerbated by allegations from Swati Maliwal, his Rajya Sabha colleague. Maliwal accused Bibhav Kumar, Kejriwal’s personal secretary, of physically assaulting her at the Chief Minister’s residence on May 13.

In the midst of this political tempest, Bibhav was apprehended on Saturday, coinciding with a court hearing in the capital concerning his anticipatory bail plea, which was rendered moot by his arrest. Subsequently, Bibhav was remanded to five days in police custody.

On Saturday, Kejriwal, through a video communiqué, declared that he and other AAP leaders would march to the BJP headquarters on Sunday (May 19) “to allow the prime minister to incarcerate anyone he desires.”

“The BJP is proclaiming their intent to imprison AAP MP Raghav Chadha, and Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj as well,” Kejriwal asserted, mere hours following the arrest of his aide Bibhav Kumar. Nonetheless, Kejriwal, also the national convener of AAP, emphatically declared that incarcerating its leaders would not obliterate his party.