CBI raid at ex-MLA Durgesh Pathak's home; AAP links it with Gujarat – ‘BJP rattled by rising influence’

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at the residence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLDA) Durgesh Pathak on Thursday, April 17. 

Officials said the searches were conducted in connection with the violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). AAP leaders connected the raids to Gujarat, citing Pathak was recently named co-incharge for the Gujarat assembly elections 2027.

“This sends a loud message that BJP clearly views AAP as a growing threat in Gujarat and is rattled by its rising influence,” said Sandeep Pathak, AAP general secretary (organisation), in a post on X. Pathak is also an AAP Rajya Sabha MP.

FCRA is a law in India that regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions or donations by certain individuals, associations, and companies.

“Shocking news of CBI raiding the house of AAP leader Durgesh Pathak this morning - days after his appointment as co-incharge of Gujarat elections in 2027! Makes one thing clear - BJP sees AAP as its main opposition in Gujarat and is nervous by its steady expansion,” Jasmine Shah, another AAP leader said. 

Pathak is a former MLA from the Rajinder Nagar seat in Delhi. He lost from the seat in 2025 Delhi assembly polls. 

AAP's Gujarat Focus

In the reshuffle, Saurabh Bharadwaj was appointed as the new president of AAP's Delhi unit, while Gopal Rai, the former Delhi chief, was named the party's in-charge for Gujarat. Former Delhi MLA Pathak was designated as the co-in-charge for the state unit.

Gopal Rai and Durgesh Pathak were in Gujarat last week to expand the party's organisational footprint there. The organisational culminated with a state-level leadership meeting in Junagadh on April 12 and a state workers' 'Mahasammelan' at Viswadar on April 13. A final meeting to discuss preparations for the upcoming Viswadar Assembly bypoll was held on April 14.

This marked the first major organisational exercise in Gujarat since the party's leadership overhaul following its defeat to the BJP in the recent Delhi Assembly elections.

Gujarat assembly elections are scheduled in 2027. In 2022, the Bharatiya Janata Party won a landslide victory of 156 seats, the most ever won by any party in Gujarat's history. AAP won five seats.

AAP aims to build on its growing presence in Gujarat, where it won 32 local body seats in February and finished second in about 250 seats. The party has already announced that it would contest the 2027 elections in the state alone without opting for an alliance with Congress.

ED charges on AAP funding

Last year in May, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), another central investigation agency, alleged that the AAP received ₹7.08 crore in foreign funds between 2014 and 2022, breaching the FCRA, the Representation of People Act (RPA), and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

These funds were sourced from various donors in countries including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Oman, the ED reportedly said.

The probe agency alleged that these funds were used for personal gains, notably during a fundraising event in Canada in 2016, implicating Durgesh Pathak.

(With agency inputs)