Arvind Kejriwal’s rejig and the future of AAP

By G Krishna Mohan Rao*

New Delhi: Ever since his as well his Aam Aadmi Party’s defeat in the recent Delhi Assembly elections, the AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal has been biding his time to resurface on the political scene. With the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership in Delhi intensifying its onslaught to finish AAP, Kejriwal is looking for options, to be himself politically relevant and also save the party from disintegration. On the other side, the Congress party is also waiting in the wings to marginalise Kejriwal politically. In other words, political challenges before Kejriwal galore.

So what is Kejriwal up to, after his defeat in Delhi?

When the AAP lost the Delhi Assembly elections and its top leaders ended up amongst the losers, Kejriwal would have to devise new ways to keep himself relevant. Sources said that going to Rajya Sabha was an option since it would provide a platform for the former Chief Minister to push forward his narrative. The only hurdle in the way was that the majority of those who were nominated to Rajya Sabha by the Party were non-political elements and therefore for them to vacate a seat to accommodate their boss was always going to be difficult.

Even though Kejriwal and those close to him ruled out the possibility of entering Rajya Sabha, it is evident that a certain arrangement has been made behind the scenes. From Delhi and Punjab, the party has got 10 Rajya Sabha members at present. AAP supporters have been maintaining that Kejriwal does not need the Rajya Sabha for furtherance of his politics. The question is that for the narrative to be more effective and properly articulated, there can be no better forum than Parliament.

There is another school of thought that suggests that Kejriwal may continue to be the boss but may give the Rajya Sabha to his deputy Manish Sisodia. The logic being provided is that Sisodia has served a longer time in jail and is privy to every decision of the AAP government which is now being probed by central investigative agencies. Therefore, it was important to keep Sisodia in good humour.

The real challenge before Kejriwal is apparently to keep its flock together.

In this context, the new appointments on Friday, March 21, 2025, by the AAP are aimed at bolstering the party’s presence in Delhi and Punjab and also reflect a conscious attempt by Kejriwal to keep the flock together by giving key roles to seniors like  Manish Sisodia, Satyendra Jain and Saurabh Bharadwaj in the party. The appointments gain importance as the AAP will be focusing on strengthening the organisation in Punjab, Gujarat and Goa, where Assembly elections will be held in 2027.

Party observers feel that after its drubbing in the recent polls, AAP on Friday effected a major organisational reshuffle nationally, appointing former state minister Saurabh Bharadwaj as president of its Delhi unit and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia as in charge of Punjab, the only state where AAP is in office. Another former minister Satyendra Jain, a close confidant of Kejriwal, has been made co-incharge of Punjab. The rejig followed a meeting of the party’s political affairs committee, where it was decided to make former minister Gopal Rai the new in-charge of Gujarat, where AAP has four legislators.

Sandeep Pathak, AAP’s national general secretary (organisation), will be in charge of Chattisgarh. National secretary Pankaj Gupta will be in charge of Goa. The party has appointed Ankush Narang, Abhishek Chandela and Deepak Singh as co-in-charges in the state. After the political affairs committee meeting, Kejriwal congratulated the party functionaries. The committee primarily focused on the party’s expansion, organisational structure and key strategic issues.

The BJP shall make every effort to dismantle the party and therefore Kejriwal and his colleagues have to think on their feet to keep things going. The Delhi defeat had been a huge setback to the ambitions of the “over-ambitious” former Chief Minister. The Punjab legislative party is also going through a worrying phase and many AAP legislators are reportedly having second thoughts about continuing with the outfit. This and many other compelling reasons may have been there for the top leadership to decide to get a Rajya Sabha berth vacated.

Kejriwal’s ambitions of being a prominent figure in national politics for the 2029 Lok Sabha polls also stand shattered for the time being. Although it is too early right now, it appears unlikely that he could emerge as the primary face of the non-BJP opposition for the parliamentary polls to challenge the might of the saffron brigade. Observers feel that since the AAP had grown at the expense of the Congress party and became a national party, it is the Congress more than the BJP, wants to finish AAP and its leadership. The Congress party is hence not likely to tolerate the AAP in the anti-BJP alliance at the Centre.

Further, since the BJP has come back to power nearly after 30 years in Delhi, it will go to any extent to take on the AAP. Even the Congress party wants the BJP to target AAP and Kejriwal. There is also speculation that the former CM Kejriwal may be slapped with multiple cases for the alleged irregularities committed during his tenure and may spend the remainder of his life contesting them in courts or making in and out trips to jails.

*Senior journalist