Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was slapped by a man during a road show in the New Delhi constituency on Saturday, prompting the Aam Aadmi Party to allege a BJP hand behind the “cowardly act”.

Police said the man had been taken into custody and an investigation started.

Kejriwal was travelling in an open jeep through the Moti Nagar locality when a man in a red T-shirt jumped onto the vehicle and slapped him before he was pulled away.

Deputy commissioner of police (West) Monika Bhardwaj said the attacker was Suresh, a 33-year-old dealer in spare parts.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia tweeted: “Do (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (BJP president) Amit Shah want Kejriwal to be murdered?” He said the BJP could neither break Kejriwal’s morale nor defeat him in elections in five years despite trying with all its might.

“Now you want him removed from your path in this manner, you cowards! This Kejriwal is your nemesis,” he tweeted in Hindi.

AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj too suggested that the BJP might be behind the attack. “We condemned this cowardly act. This Opposition sponsored attack (the BJP is the lone Opposition in the Delhi Assembly) cannot stop the Aam Aadmi in Delhi,” he tweeted.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari condemned the incident and said the AAP might have “scripted” it. “We do not support violence and condemn such action by anyone. But I have doubts why such incidents happen with Kejriwal only during elections,” he said. “I suspect that this incident may have been scripted by Kejriwal himself.”

This is the second time Kejriwal has been slapped at a public gathering. He has also been attacked with ink and spices.

Kejriwal was holding the road show in favour of AAP candidate Brijesh Goyal.