The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on February 26 fielded its Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjeev Arora in Punjab assembly bypoll. The party in power in Punjab has fielded Arora from Ludhiana West. This seat fell vacant last month after the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi in an accidental firing while cleaning his pistol.
Buzz over Kejriwal entering Parliament
The decision to field a Rajya Sabha member has sparked off a buzz that AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal may replace Arora in the Upper House. Kejriwal is not member of any house as of now after his recent defeat in Delhi Assembly Election.
Arora, a businessman, was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2022 from Punjab. His tenure is set to end in 2028. To be an MLA, Arora will have to resign from the Parliament leaving the seat vacant. Arora accepted the ticket from Ludhiana West and thanked the AAP leadership.
The buzz is that Kejriwal might be filling the vacant Rajya Sabha seat. Remember Kejriwal had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election against Narendra Modi from Varanasi in 2014.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the February 5 assembly election in Delhi bagging 48 seats. The AAP, which won the last two elections, won just 22 seats. The defeat meant AAP is only in power in Punjab.
What AAP says?
The AAP has denied any such reports, though. “Arvind Kejriwal is not going to Rajya Sabha…As far as Arvind Kejriwal is concerned, media sources were earlier saying that he will become the Chief Minister of Punjab. Now, media sources are saying that he will contest from Rajya Sabha. Both these sources are absolutely wrong. 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,” AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar told news agency ANI.
The AAP has 11 Rajya Sabha members, including Arora, presently. It has one Lok Sabha member too.
