Chandigarh, Feb 26 (IANS) As the buzz over Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s entry into Rajya Sabha through nomination intensified after the party on Wednesday announced that it would field its MP Sanjeev Arora in the Ludhiana (West) Assembly bypoll, Opposition parties in Punjab trained guns on the party.
They said, “Kejriwal wants to control the state by becoming the undercover Chief Minister.”
“Once again, Punjab has been made to surrender before Delhi,” they added.
However, AAP leaders denied Kejriwal was opting for the Rajya Sabha route.
Congress legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira claimed that Kejriwal would replace Arora in the Upper House.
“If Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora is nominated as AAP candidate for the Ludhiana (West) bypoll, I am sure Arvind Kejriwal will take his Rajya Sabha membership!” Khaira said in a post on X.
Echoing similar sentiments, Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa believed that work had started as per the plan made by Kejriwal.
“If Kejriwal becomes a Rajya Sabha member, he will control Punjab by becoming the undercover Chief Minister. The face will be of Bhagwant Mann, but the control will be of Kejriwal,” he said.
After this, he wrote on X, the people of Delhi “will create such a situation that Bhagwant Mann sahib will be removed on some pretext and Arvind Kejriwal himself will become the Chief Minister.”
Joining the issue, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia said power hungry Kejriwal was seeking a Rajya Sabha nomination and this was the reason why the party had forced its sitting MP Sanjiv Arora to vacate a Rajya Sabha seat for him.
In a statement here, former minister Majithia said the AAP’s game plan was to use the government’s might to get Arora elected to the Vidhan Sabha so that a Rajya Sabha seat is vacated in the state.
“Kejriwal wants to get twin benefits including a government bungalow in his name in the national Capital as well as the perks and power of an MP,” he said.
The Akali Dal leader said it was most shameful to see that during the last three years Bhagwant Mann as Chief Minister had completely surrendered at the feet of the AAP high command in Delhi.
He said earlier the treasury of Punjab was looted for preaching the AAP’s failed Kejriwal model throughout the country and now he was seeking a nomination to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.
Saying this bye-election is to prepare cadres for the future polls, AAP’s Punjab spokesperson Neel Garg, dubbed the claims of the Opposition as rumours regarding either party supremo Kejriwal or Sisodia replacing Arora in the Rajya Sabha.
“The BJP rumour mills are working overtime. As of now, the election for Ludhiana (West) has not even been announced. Arora has been chosen as the party candidate because of his popularity in Ludhiana. He has not even resigned from the Rajya Sabha membership. He can’t contest the bye-election without resigning,” Garg told the media here.
Justifying the party’s decision, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Sandhwan said a party can nominate anyone to the Rajya Sabha from anywhere.
“It’s their right. What is the illegality in this? Even Manmohan Singh went to the Rajya Sabha from another state. The party will decide who will be fielded and anyone they field I will welcome it,” Sandhwan said.
The Ludhiana (West) seat fell vacant with the demise of Gurpreet Gogi Bassi, 58, who died after sustaining a gunshot wound in his head at his house last month.
The Election Commission of India is yet to announce the election schedule for the seat.
AAP’s legislator Gogi joined the AAP in 2022 and defeated two-time MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu during the 2022 Assembly elections.
Responding to the nomination, candidate Arora wrote on X, “Humbled and grateful to the leadership @AamAadmiParty for reposing faith in me to contest the Ludhiana West bye-elections. As someone deeply connected to my hometown, I look forward to serving my people with dedication and sincerity.”
The seven Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab are Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, cricketer Harbhajan Singh, educationist Ashok Mittal, environmentalist-cum-religious leader Balbir Singh Seechewal, entrepreneur Vikramjit Singh Sahney, besides Sanjeev Arora.
Kejriwal lost the New Delhi seat to BJP’s Parvesh Verma in the just-concluded Assembly elections.
–IANS
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