Arvind Kejriwal to enter Rajya Sabha? BJP reacts as AAP fields Sanjeev Arora for bypoll

AAP's Sanjeev Arora, a Ludhiana-based industrialist, has been a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2022.

Updated on: Feb 26, 2025, 14:30:33 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday named its Rajya Sabha MP Sanjiv Arora as the party candidate for the Ludhiana West assembly bypoll, sparking speculation of Arvind Kejriwal's possible entry into Parliament.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal seemingly shifted his focus to his party's Punjab unit after the defeat in the Delhi assembly polls. (PTI)

Sanjiv Arora, a Ludhiana-based industrialist, has been a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2022. His name for the bypoll came as the Ludhiana West seat went vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi last month.

The date for the bypoll is yet to be announced.

Arvind Kejriwal to enter Rajya Sabha?

Bharatiya Janata Party IT cell head Amit Malviya also weighed in on Sanjiv Arora's candidature, asking whether this move was intended at “clearing the path for Arvind Kejriwal, who just lost his own seat in New Delhi, to get nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab”.

“Wouldn't it be better if someone from Punjab represented the state instead of Kejriwal?” Amit Malviya asked in a post on X.

BJP national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill also questioned the AAP's move to field Arora for the Ludhiana West bypoll. He posed three questions as to why this decision was made. "Kejriwal wants to enter Rajya Sabha? Kejriwal wants Govt accommodation in Delhi? Kejriwal having major power FOMO after losing elections?"

Shergill asked whether AAP asked Arora to vacate the seat in order to make "3P 'power, perks & privileges' greedy Kejriwal happy?"

ALSO READ | After Delhi debacle, future tense for AAP in Punjab

AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal seemingly shifted his focus towards Punjab after his party's crushing defeat in the 2025 Delhi assembly election, with BJP's Parvesh Verma beating the former CM from the New Delhi constituency.

Arvind Kejriwal is aiming at bettering his party's stand in Punjab for the 2027 assembly polls, with two years at hand for preparations.

Amit Malviya further asked whether the AAP had promised Arora a ministerial berth once he won the bypoll and vacated his seat. "This kind of transactional politics must be condemned. The people of Ludhiana must defeat Sanjeev Arora so that he cannot offer his seat to Arvind Kejriwal without losing his own," he added.

ALSO READ | ‘It will 100% happen’: Punjab Congress leader on buzz over Kejriwal's possible Rajya Sabha entry

AAP dismisses claim

AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar dismissed the buzz of Kejriwal's possible entry to the Parliament.

"Arvind Kejriwal is not going to Rajya Sabha," she told news agency ANI. She said that as far as the AAP supremo is concerned, earlier there were reports of him becoming the Punjab CM, now it is of him contesting from Rajya Sabha.

"Both of these are absolutely wrong. Arvind Kejriwal is the national convenor of AAP. I agree that his demand is very high, but he is not limited to any one seat," Kakkar added.

Notably, Arora's candidate announcement comes just a day after Punjab's Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa claimed that it is certain that Kejriwal's entry into the Rajya Sabha will happen.

Bajwa said that Kejriwal was initially considering to enter through the seat of deceased AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi but withdrew amid concerns of backlash in Punjab.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Bajwa said, this (Kejriwal's Parliament entry) will 100 per cent happen.

"Most probably, there can be some truth to the information regarding Arora sahab (speculations around AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora contesting Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll),” Bajwa had noted.

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