Almost two hours after the ECI uploaded the list of electoral bonds with unique numbers provided by the State Bank of India(SBI), the Enforcement Directorate officials reached the residence of the Delhi chief minister with a huge contingent of security forces and arrested him late in the evening.

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The arrest of Kejriwal has ignited a fierce battle of words between the BJP and the Opposition with both sides scrambling to control the optics. For BJP, the arrest represents a strategic opportunity to deliver a crippling blow to AAP and the INDIA bloc. With Kejriwal in jail, he will be unable to launch and sustain his chacteristic biting electoral campaign that never fails to draw blood.

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The AAP spin doctors, were quick to turn the tables on the BJP, reframing the arrest as a rallying point for their supporters and making an effort to whip up public sympathy by seeking to portray Kejriwal as a victim of political persecution.

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"Kejriwal is not an individual, he is an idea. If one Kejriwal is victimised, thousands of Kejriwals will come forth to fight injustice," Delhi minister Atishi said.

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Kejriwal becomes the second sitting chief minister to be arrested after Jharkhand's Hemant Soren. While Soren made way for Chmpai Soren to take charge of the state, the AAP announced that "Kejriwal will remain chief minister and will rule from the jail." Kejriwal's arrest comes a week after the arrest of BRS leader K Kavitha in the liquorgate scam which is linked to Kejriwal.

Earlier in the day a High Court order made it easier for the law enforcing agencies to take action as it denied to grant any protection to Kejriwal from any coercive action of the ED.  After the High Court denied protection, the ED officials reached Kejriwal's residence with a search warrant. Officials were apparently looking for the Rs 100 crores that was allegedly transferred to Kejriwal by Kavita. No one has been able to track the money trail so far.

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With Lok Sabha elections less than a month away, the situation continues to go from bad to worse for the Opposition. In the afternoon the Income Tax department moved in to freeze the bank accounts of the Congress party in a tax dispute case. Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi told the media that the party "is not being able to campaign properly with its accounts frozen." Rahul Gandhi went on to add: "Our entire financial identity has been erased...we have no money to campaign, we cannot support our candidates. Our ability to fight elections has been damaged."

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The Electoral Bonds uploaded by the ECI indicated that the BJP, encashed the highest number of bonds worth over Rs 8,000 crore – close to 50% of the total Rs 16, 518 crore. It swept a huge chunk in the first round of collection worth Rs 502 crore through redemption of bonds on April 12, 2019. Congress got Rs 1,952 crore, and Trinamool Congress Rs 1,705 crore. Simply put, the electoral bonds tell their own story.