Will Clean Chit To Arvind Kejriwal Spark AAP Resurgence? What Experts Said

Hours after a Delhi court cleared him and several others of corruption charges in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case on Friday, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal threw down the gauntlet at the BJP, declaring that the party would not win even 10 seats if elections were held in the national capital today.

While 10 seats may be a stretch, analysts said being freed of the proverbial Sword of Damocles, in the form of corruption charges, hanging over his head may serve as a political lifeline for the former chief minister.

"Kejriwal is the kind of leader who will present this court decision to the public as if he has won a medal. He has already said he has been vindicated. The AAP chief, who positioned his party as one that stood firmly with the common man and strongly against corruption, will now declare to everyone, 'Look, I was the truthful one who was framed'," said a political expert.

Kejriwal's long-time associate and journalist Ashutosh, who had a falling out with the AAP chief in 2018, said the case filed by the CBI was fake.

"Did the CBI not know this? Kejriwal was arrested in this case, and (AAP leader and former deputy chief minister) Manish Sisodia spent a year and a half in jail. Now, after being cleared of the charges, they will definitely try to take advantage of this. The next elections where AAP is a key player are in Punjab in 2027, followed by Gujarat. This decision could also significantly help Kejriwal regain lost ground in Delhi," said the journalist.

The AAP governed Delhi for over 10 years since 2013, including its first 49-day term, and was seen as very popular until the liquor policy charges and the BJP's allegations of crores being spent to renovate and build a palatial home for Kejriwal, derisively called the 'Sheesh Mahal', began gaining traction.

This was reflected in the results of the elections in February 2025, when the party was reduced to just 22 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, down from a mega mandate of 62 in 2020. The BJP swept to power with 48 seats, up from eight.

Ashutosh pointed out that Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi also received relief in the National Herald case in December and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda received a clean chit in a land case just this week. These developments, he said, have delivered a strong blow to the BJP's narrative that Opposition leaders are corrupt.

The journalist also argued that Kejriwal's image did not take as much of a hit from the liquor policy controversy as it did from the 'Sheesh Mahal' issue, including allegations of spending nearly Rs 1 crore on curtains and Rs 6 crore on marble.

Other experts, however, said the order will serve as a shot in the arm for Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party, whose presence in Delhi has drastically reduced since it lost the elections. "With this renewed vigour, Kejriwal will expand his activities in Delhi as well as in Gujarat, Goa, and other states. This, conversely, may pose a problem for the Congress, whose votes the AAP may eat into," said an expert.