Union Minister and BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi launched a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday, ramping up the bitter spat between the two parties over alleged corruption in the city’s liquor excise policy and the water development authority.

An apoplectic Ms Lekhi held Prime Minister Narendra Modi up as an ideal for Mr Kejriwal to follow, declaring Mr Modi had (when he was Gujarat Chief Minister) “sat for 12 hours answering questions”; the reference was to the PM being questioned by a special team investigating the 2002 Gujarat riots.

“That is how you face… instead of drama and corruption like Kejriwal,” Ms Lekhi thundered.

The Union Minister’s attack comes amid a tug-of-war between the Delhi Chief Minister and his AAP and the Enforcement Directorate, which has summoned Mr Kejriwal five times for questioning in the liquor policy case. Mr Kejriwal has skipped all five and could now be arrested by the central agency.

The agency – which the AAP and other opposition parties say is being used by the BJP to target rivals, particularly before elections – is investigating alleged money laundering of proceeds of crime, referring to “undue benefits” to liquor cartels as a result of the November 2021 excise policy.