: If Aam Aadmi Party sources are to be believed, Arvind Kejriwal is likely to be the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the Punjab elections next year.
Sources said Mr Kejriwal, hampered by the limited powers vested with the Delhi Chief Minister, especially following the August 4 High Court order stating that the L-G is the administrative head, is keen to showcase a model of governance and that can only be done where he has wider powers.
“AAP wants to show a model of governance, and this can happen only when Mr Kejriwal has powers to take decisions. At present, he cannot even appoint a peon in the Delhi government,” a party member said.
“Of all the AAP leaders in Punjab, only Arvindji has been able to pull big crowds. People really like him and want their state free of the Badals and Captain,” said another AAP member.
The State’s former party convenor, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, is also of the opinion that Mr. Kejriwal plans to become the Punjab Chief Minister if the party manages to win.
Path set?
“It is evident from the fact that I was not allowed to appoint other office-bearers in Punjab or to delegate powers to any other leader so that no new face emerges,” Mr. Chhotepur said at a press conference last week.
Another indication of Mr Kejirwal’s intentions came when former BJP Rajya Sabha member Navjot Singh Sidhu took everyone by surprise and quit the Upper House, eventually even resigning from the BJP.
It was widely speculated that Mr Sidhu would join the AAP and be projected as the chief ministerial candidate for Punjab. There was excitement even in the AAP, which had been on the lookout for a Sikh face.
But Mr. Kejriwal had other ideas, and seemed to want Mr. Sidhu only as a star campaigner. This was confirmed by Mr Sidhu himself while announcing the launch of a new front in Punjab earlier this month.
“He told me not to contest but only campaign. But he said my wife can contest and would make her a Minister,” Mr Sidhu said.
Political observers have also taken note of Mr Kejriwal’s decreased involvement in matters relating to Delhi. Mr Kejriwal addresses fewer press conferences, his photographs have stopped adorning Delhi government advertisements and his tweets are not limited to Delhi. Punjab and the incumbent government find regular mention.
Mr. Kejriwal’s first media no-show, which struck many as unusual, was on August 31 — the day former Women and Child Minister Sandeep Kumar’s alleged sex tape was leaked.
AAP leaders had descended on the Chief Minister’s residence to decide on the course of action. The media had expected Mr Kejriwal to come out and address them but it was Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia who announced the party’s decision to sack Mr Kumar from the cabinet.
Decreasing presence?
Mr. Kejriwal has also been absent from most Delhi Assembly sessions in July and August. Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta questioned his absence and said Mr Kejriwal was probably busy with Punjab, dropping hints to the media. But Mr. Kejriwal’s Punjab plan, if true, has not gone down well with political experts. Already branded a ‘bhagoda’ after he quit as the Chief Minister the first time around in February 2014, the experts said the Delhi CM would find it hard to explain the shift to Delhiites.
They also felt that Mr Kejriwal would find it difficult to assure Punjabis, who have a history of not sparing non-Punjabi politicians.
“When Arun Jaitley couldn’t win from Punjab (during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections), how can Arvind Kejriwal?” asked Kamal Mitra Chenoy, a political science professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and a member of the AAP. “Let’s say it happens, who will take charge of Delhi? Manish Sisodia cannot run Delhi,” he said. Another JNU professor, P. K. Dutta, said: “I am sceptical of this rumour. It would be political suicide.”
“CMs aren’t a transferable commodity. The people of Delhi will not forgive him,” he added.
An AAP leader, however, denied that Mr Kejriwal would be the party’s chief ministerial face.
Mr Kejriwal’s once trusted friend and party leader, Prashant Bhushan, explained the political strategy. “He will not take the risk of losing Punjab. He will get himself registered as a voter in Punjab after the elections. Then one of his stooges will quit, and he will contest a by-election. But, this will happen only if the AAP wins,” he said.
On September 8, when Mr. Kejriwal began his four-day tour of Punjab, he said: “I have arrived. I will put up a tent and stay here until I have the Badals in jail for their wrongdoings.”
Mr. Kejriwal made a similar promise on February 14, 2015 when he was sworn in as the CM for the second time. “I’m staying in Delhi for five years to work for the people of Delhi,” he had said.
