Amid speculations, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said he would not go to the Rajya Sabha, after the party’s sitting Upper House member Sanjeev Arora won the Ludhiana West bypolls in Punjab.
Arora will have to resign from the Rajya Sabha. At a press conference, Kejriwal was asked whom the party will nominate in Arora’s place.
The buzz over Kejriwal going to the Rajya Sabha intensified after winning the Ludhiana West bypolls in Punjab on Tuesday.
At a press conference on Monday, Kejriwal was asked whom the party will nominate in Arora’s place. In a lighter vein, he replied, “Many times I have been sent to the Rajya Sabha. I want to tell you I am not going to the Rajya Sabhaâ€.
“The political affairs committee of the party will decide whom to nominate,†he said.
Opposition parties have claimed that party supremo Kejriwal would enter the Upper House in Arora’s place. Kejriwal, the former three term chief minister of Delhi, was defeated in the recent assembly polls from the New Delhi seat by BJP’s Parvesh Verma.
The AAP chief said the party’s political affairs committee would decide whom to nominate but he is not going to the Upper House.
After Arora’s name was announced as the AAP candidate for the Ludhiana West bypoll, the opposition had been claiming that Kejriwal would enter the Rajya Sabha in Arora’s place.
The names of senior leaders of the party — Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain — are doing the rounds as probable candidates for Arora’s replacement. Sisodia was made the in-charge of Punjab in place of Jarnail Singh after the Delhi poll debacle while Jain was named as co-incharge of the State. The former Delhi deputy chief minister and Jain are trusted lieutenants of Kejriwal who have stood with him through thick and thin.
Sisodia has been spending most of his time in Punjab. He is likely to lead a victory march in Ludhiana West on Tuesday along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. However, a party functionary remarked it was too early to say that Sisodia would be the party’s pick for the Upper House.
“The party is currently focussing on bringing reforms in the state. Education is one of the key areas where the party wants to work,†said the functionary.
Another functionary said the party could also nominate a Punjab leader to the Rajya Sabha.
