Vital boost for AAP ahead of assembly polls in Delhi, Hry

AAP functionaries said the development will strengthen the party’s ongoing efforts to mobilise political support in favour of bail for Kejriwal, who has been in jail since March in the excise policy case. They added that it will also push the pending work in Delhi towards completion.

The bail granted to former Delhi deputy chief minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader could not have come at a better time and will act as a major shot in the arm for the party for two principal reasons, AAP leaders and experts said on Friday.

Sisodia also has a wealth of experience as a minister, which he shares in public meetings to describe the achievements of the AAP government. (Sanchit Khanna /Hindustan Times)

First, Sisodia will likely take over as the tallest figure in the party in the absence of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal; and second, it will allow the party to crank up its preparations under his guidance for the Delhi assembly polls scheduled to be held in the beginning of 2025, the leaders said.

AAP functionaries said the development will strengthen the party’s ongoing efforts to mobilise political support in favour of bail for Kejriwal, who has been in jail since March in the excise policy case. They added that it will also push the pending work in Delhi towards completion.

The AAP has been trying to turn the tide in its favour since the recent Lok Sabha elections, where its lacklustre performance failed to clinch even a single seat. It lost the four seats it contested to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A third-time MLA from the Patparganj assembly constituency in east Delhi, Sisodia is considered one of the most trusted associates of Kejriwal — the two have been associated since their activism days.

In 2010-11, Sisodia and Kejriwal were part of the crucial anti-corruption movement, which sowed the seeds for what would later become the Aam Aadmi Party.