The arrest of Hemant Soren, who resigned as the chief minister of Jharkhand on Wednesday, has prompted the AAP to chalk out a strategy fearing a similar fate for party leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

“The brazen way in which the ED arrested him and the lack of public outcry indicates a few things to us. The agencies are acting with impunity and the Centre has decided to make a spectacle even of a leader like Hemantji who is not seen as a threat to (PM) Modi,” a party leader told The Telegraph. “Also, the public is largely supportive of the hollowing out of institutions. Perhaps people feel that instead of dealing with many strongmen, let’s just have one strongman. The point is that attacking Modi or even Adani is not appealing to the people. We have to find a different way to speak out against what may happen to Arvindji.”

Kejriwal has not spoken about Soren’s arrest and other AAP leaders have slammed the BJP but none have named Modi. A party source said: “We can’t lose political capital in this war. You may see us attacking the RSS or see Arvind daring the ED to come and arrest him. But naming Modi or Adani or even Arvind directly getting involved won’t help us. The public will see it as politicians fighting.”

AAP sources said even Soren’s JMM, which has a history of enforcing shutdowns, did not call a bandh. This has made the AAP rethink plans of mass action if Kejriwal is arrested.