CHANDIGARH: With the fielding of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora as its candidate for the Ludhiana (West) Assembly byelection, speculations are rife over party’s supremo Arvind Kejriwal to get entry into the Rajya Sabha from Punjab, if the former wins the seat.
However, the party had denied that Kejriwal is moving to the Rajya Sabha.
By fielding the sitting MP, rumours are getting strengthened that Kejriwal, who just faced humiliating defeat not only of his party but also his own seat in Delhi Assembly elections, is going to the Rajya Sabha in Arora’s place.
Kejriwal lost the New Delhi seat to BJP’s Parvesh Verma by over 4, 000 votes in the just concluded Assembly elections.
The Ludhiana (West) seat fell vacant with the demise of Gurpreet Gogi Bassi, 58, who died after sustaining a gunshot wound in his head at his house last month.
The Election Commission of India is yet to announce the election schedule for the seat.
AAP’s seven Rajya Sabha MPs are Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, cricketer Harbhajan Singh, educationist Ashok Mittal, environmentalist-cum-religious leader Balbir Singh Seechewal, entrepreneur Vikramjit Singh Sahney, besides Sanjeev Arora.
Party insiders said all six AAP Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab have also offered their seats to Kejriwal, but the former Delhi Chief Minister has declined the offer.
Setting aside speculation of fielding Kejriwal, AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said, “Arvind Kejriwal is not going to Rajya Sabha…media sources were earlier saying that he will become the chief minister of Punjab.”
“Arvind Kejriwal is the national convenor of AAP. I agree that his demand is very high, but he is not limited to any one seat, ” she said to the media in Delhi.
However, Leader of Opposition in Punjab and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa on Tuesday claimed that Kejriwal’s Rajya Sabha entry “is certain”.
Bajwa claimed Kejriwal initially considered contesting from the seat left vacant by late AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi but later dropped the idea due to fears “of a backlash in Punjab”.
A day earlier, Congress lawmaker Pargat Singh raised an issue in the Legislative Assembly's special session under which rule has the Punjab government led by Bhagwant Mann provided security to Kejriwal. “The CM mentioned that security personnel were provided to the @MamataOfficial government on a paid basis. Now, tell the people of Punjab, how much has Arvind Kejriwal paid to the Punjab treasury for this security?” former Olympian Pargat Singh wrote on X.
Earlier this week, Leader of Opposition Bajwa created a furore in state politics by saying that 32 AAP MLAs are in touch with him, seeking to switch sides. He accused the government of delaying the promised honorarium of Rs 1, 000 per month, which was pledged before the Assembly elections in 2022.
Paying in the same coin, AAP state President, Aman Arora, launched a scathing attack on Bajwa, alleging that his transition to the BJP was certain.
Arora accused the Congress leader of betraying the mandate and focusing solely on his personal ambitions. “Pratap Bajwa has already secured his advance booking with the BJP. I urge Rahul Gandhi to question Bajwa about what he was doing in Bengaluru recently and which senior BJP leaders he met there, ” said Arora.
“It’s clear his script is prepared in the BJP’s offices, much like his brother who has already joined the BJP, ” he said.
Highlighting Bajwa's baseless allegations against the AAP government that 32 AAP legislators were “keen to join the Congress”, Arora clarified to the media, “Bajwa is spreading rumours and indulging in frivolous statements that hold no merit. The Congress leader doesn’t even know the whereabouts of his own MLAs. He lost Sandeep Jakhar to the BJP, and yet he talks about destabilising our government.”
“His claims are laughable and lack any factual basis, ” said Arora dismissing Bajwa’s threats to destabilise the AAP government as ludicrous.
“The AAP government in Punjab has 94 MLAs. Even if Bajwa’s imaginary tally of 32 MLAs were subtracted, we would still have 62 MLAs, a comfortable majority, ” he said.
He said the Congress has just 15 MLAs in Punjab. “If you add another 32 to his count, they still wouldn't be able to form a government. This shows the level of desperation and delusion he’s operating under, ” said Arora.
Arora advised Bajwa to focus on managing his own party, which is grappling with internal chaos.