Is Arvind Kejriwal going to Rajya Sabha? AAP responds after Ludhiana bypoll move sparks speculation
New Delhi/IBNS: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday named its Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora as the candidate for the Ludhiana West byelection sparking a speculation over party head Arvind Kejriwal moving to the upper house of Parliament, media reports said.
Soon after the announcement, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fuelled the speculations claiming Kejriwal was mulling moving to the Rajya Sabha.
BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya posted on X, "AAP has fielded Sanjeev Arora, its Rajya Sabha MP, as a candidate for the Ludhiana West Assembly by-poll. Is this being done to clear the path for Arvind Kejriwal, who just lost his own seat in New Delhi, to get nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab? Wouldn’t it be better if someone from Punjab represented the state instead of Kejriwal?
"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."
AAP has fielded Sanjeev Arora, its Rajya Sabha MP, as a candidate for the Ludhiana West Assembly by-poll. Is this being done to clear the path for Arvind Kejriwal, who just lost his own seat in New Delhi, to get nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab? Wouldn’t it be better if… https://t.co/TMjUAB6tXm
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) February 26, 2025
But the AAP has rejected the speculations saying Kejriwal was not considering moving to the Rajya Sabha when Arora vacates his seat.
AAP Punjab spokesperson Neel Gard told India Today, "Sanjeev Arora has been given a ticket for the Ludhiana West bypoll considering his good work. Speculations that Kejriwal will go to Rajya Sabha are untrue and out of the BJP factory.
"We will first focus on the bypoll and then Rajya Sabha. Congress and the Opposition are spreading rumours. I turn down the theory regarding Kejriwal as rumours."
The Election Commission of India is yet to announce the poll date for the Ludhiana West bypoll.
It is expected to be held in November along with the Bihar assembly elections.
Earlier this month, the Kejriwal-led AAP faced a massive jolt after it was defeated by the BJP in the February 5 Delhi assembly elections.
The AAP's tally of seats tanked to 22 while the BJP stormed back to power after 27 years with 48 elected MLAs.
Arvind Kejriwal was one of the many senior AAP leaders who have lost in their own seats.
