AAP denies speculations of Arvind Kejriwal’s Rajya Sabha entry

The Aam Aadmi Party has denied the speculations of Arvind Kejriwal entering the Rajya Sabha after the party fielded its Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora for the Ludhiana West Assembly byelection.

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“Arvind Kejriwal ji is not going to Rajya Sabha. He is the national convenor of AAP. I agree that his demand is very high, but he is not limited to any one seat,” AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said.

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.

However, the announcement of Arora’s name as candidate for the bypoll stirred the political landscape of Punjab with Opposition leaders speculating AAP’s move to arrange Kejriwal’s entry into the Upper House of the Parliament.

“Why is AAP’s sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora suddenly contesting the Ludhiana West bypoll? Is Arvind Kejriwal plotting his own Rajya Sabha entry? Is he desperate for a government bungalow in Delhi?,” Union Minister Ravneet Bittu posted on X.

He further stated that the man [Arvind Kejriwal] will go to any extent “to maintain his dictatorship. Greed has no limits!”

BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya also weighed in on Arora’s candidature, asking whether this move was intended at “clearing the path for Arvind Kejriwal, who just lost his own seat in New Delhi, to get nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab”.

“Has AAP also promised its Rajya Sabha MP a ministerial position once he wins and vacates his seat? This kind of transactional politics must be condemned. The people of Ludhiana must defeat Sanjeev Arora so that he cannot offer his seat to Arvind Kejriwal without losing his own,” Malviya stated.

AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal also shared a cryptic post on X in an apparent reference to Kejriwal. “Kursi ke liye.. Kabhi Delhi ka Beta, Kabhi Haryana ka Laal, Aur ab Punjab da Puttar,” Maliwal said.