NEW DELHI: With Aam Aadmi Party ’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora winning the Ludhiana (West) assembly bypoll, all eyes are now on who the party will nominate as its candidate for the Upper House in his place. Amid celebrations of the victories in bypolls to Ludhiana and Visavadar in Gujarat at AAP headquarters, party supremo Arvind Kejriwal made it clear that he was not going to Rajya Sabha and that the party’s political affairs committee (PAC) will decide the nominee.
The PAC meeting is likely to happen in a week.
On Monday, at a press conference where he was flanked by Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai, party in-charge for Punjab and Gujarat, respectively, Kejriwal called the victories the “semi-final to 2027”. Assembly polls are due in Punjab and Gujarat in 2027.
In response to a question on who the party will nominate in Arora's place, Kejriwal joked, “Many times I have been sent to Rajya Sabha by you people but let me tell you Kejriwal is not going to Rajya Sabha...”
The name of senior party leader and Kejriwal’s trusted lieutenant Sisodia is doing the rounds, with another senior leader, Satyendar Jain (co-incharge, Punjab), also in the reckoning. There is also talk of the party going for a leader from Punjab as it may want Sisodia to focus on his job as in-charge of Punjab, the only state where AAP is in power, with polls due in 2027.
Since Arora’s candidature was announced for the bypoll, opposition BJP and Congress in Punjab have said that following the Delhi debacle, Kejriwal was looking to enter Rajya Sabha, a claim rejected by him earlier too.
Meanwhile, after a fierce campaign from BJP and Congress, the victories in crucial bypolls in Ludhiana (West) in Punjab and Visavadar in Gujarat have come as a much- needed shot in the arm for the party, which is still recovering from its crushing defeat in Delhi assembly polls. The party has been trying to reclaim the “alternative” politics ground and disengaged from the INDIA bloc, saying the opposition grouping was formed only for 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Hailing the bypoll win at Visavadar where AAP's former Gujarat president Gopal Italia won, Kejriwal said: “In Feb 2022, we won Visavadar but the MLA later joined BJP. Today, we've won Visavadar again. It shows that people are happy with our work”.
The PAC meeting is likely to happen in a week.
On Monday, at a press conference where he was flanked by Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai, party in-charge for Punjab and Gujarat, respectively, Kejriwal called the victories the “semi-final to 2027”. Assembly polls are due in Punjab and Gujarat in 2027.
In response to a question on who the party will nominate in Arora's place, Kejriwal joked, “Many times I have been sent to Rajya Sabha by you people but let me tell you Kejriwal is not going to Rajya Sabha...”
The name of senior party leader and Kejriwal’s trusted lieutenant Sisodia is doing the rounds, with another senior leader, Satyendar Jain (co-incharge, Punjab), also in the reckoning. There is also talk of the party going for a leader from Punjab as it may want Sisodia to focus on his job as in-charge of Punjab, the only state where AAP is in power, with polls due in 2027.
Since Arora’s candidature was announced for the bypoll, opposition BJP and Congress in Punjab have said that following the Delhi debacle, Kejriwal was looking to enter Rajya Sabha, a claim rejected by him earlier too.
Meanwhile, after a fierce campaign from BJP and Congress, the victories in crucial bypolls in Ludhiana (West) in Punjab and Visavadar in Gujarat have come as a much- needed shot in the arm for the party, which is still recovering from its crushing defeat in Delhi assembly polls. The party has been trying to reclaim the “alternative” politics ground and disengaged from the INDIA bloc, saying the opposition grouping was formed only for 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Hailing the bypoll win at Visavadar where AAP's former Gujarat president Gopal Italia won, Kejriwal said: “In Feb 2022, we won Visavadar but the MLA later joined BJP. Today, we've won Visavadar again. It shows that people are happy with our work”.
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