Chance For Arvind Kejriwal As AAP Seat In Rajya Sabha Falls Vacant

Aam Aadmi Party's ability to retain one seat in the Gujarat by-election and Ludhiana has not only underscored its growing grassroots grip but also holds out hope for party chief Arvind Kejriwal's entry into Rajya Sabha.

In Gujarat, AAP's former state party chief leader Gopal Italia won the Visavadar seat - which fell vacant after AAP's sitting MLA Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the ruling BJP.

AAP has also retained its Ludhiana (West) assembly seat. AAP's Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, Sanjeev Arora, defeated his closest rival and two-time legislator Bharat Bhushan Ashu of the Congress by a margin of 10,637 votes.

The victory of AAP, which swept Punjab two years ago, indicated that the party's pull among voters with its "overall development and pro-people policies" remains intact despite persistent criticism from the Opposition Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal.

Mr Arora's victory also creates an opening in parliament's Upper house that Mr Kejriwal is expected to fill. 

The former Delhi Chief Minister -- arrested and jailed in the Delhi excise policy case -- had to step down from his post in September last year, passing the baton to senior party leader Aatishi. There was expectation that he would be back at the helm after the assembly polls in Delhi.

Mr Kejriwal had promised that he would be back only after a clean chit from the people. But the party, which had won three consecutive terms in Delhi, lost the election and the BJP came to power.

Mr Kejriwal, however, denied that he would step into the upper house immediately.

At a press conference held this afternoon, he said, "Kejriwal is not going to the Rajya Sabha, the party's Political Affairs Committee will take a call (on this issue)."

For now, Mr Kejriwal apparently focussed on celebrating the party's victory. 

Thanking the people of Punjab and Gujarat, Mr Kejriwal said the people in both states have made it clear that they reject the BJP and the Congress.

"Many congratulations to all of you on the splendid victory of Aam Aadmi Party in Visavadar seat of Gujarat and Ludhiana West seat of Punjab. Many congratulations and many thanks to the people of Gujarat and Punjab. In both the places, the victory margin has been almost double as compared to the last election," Mr Kejriwal said in a post on X in Hindi.

"Both the parties, Congress and BJP, contested the elections together in both the places. Both of them had the same objective - to defeat AAP. But people rejected both these parties in both the places," he claimed in the post.

Two assembly bypolls were held in Gujarat, one each in Kerala, West Bengal, and Punjab, on Tuesday. Polling took place at the Assembly constituencies of Kadi (SC) and Visavadar in Gujarat, Nilambur in Kerala, Ludhiana West in Punjab and Kaliganj in West Bengal.