The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday declared Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora as its candidate for the Ludhiana West Assembly by -election, after which opposition parties in Punjab claimed that party supremo Arvind Kejriwal would enter the upper house in his place.
If Arora wins the by -election, he will have to resign from the Rajya Sabha, the date of which has not been announced yet. AAP Gurpreet Bassi Gogi died last month due to firing with licensed weapon, due to which Ludhiana West seat was vacant.
Earlier this month, in the Delhi Assembly elections, the BJP dusted AAP, due to which Kejriwal had to face defeat from his New Delhi seat. However, the AAP spokesperson dismissed the claims of opposition parties.
Arora’s name as a candidate for Ludhiana West by -election was announced by AAP National General Secretary Sandeep Pathak in a post on Exclusive.
Ludhiana -based industrialist, who also runs Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust, 61 -year -old Arora is a member of Rajya Sabha since 2022. Arora said that he is grateful to the party leadership for fielding them.
Arora said in a post on X, “I am humble and grateful to the leadership to express confidence in me to contest the Ludhiana West by -election. As a deeply associated with my hometown, I am ready to serve my people with dedication and honesty.”
After the announcement, Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira claimed that Kejriwal would replace Arora in the Upper House.
Khaira said in a post on Exclusive, “If Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora is named as AAP candidate for Ludhiana West by -election, I am sure Arvind Kejriwal will quit his Rajya Sabha membership!”
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia also claimed that Kejriwal or former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia will replace Sisodia Arora.
He said, “AAP has made Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora a party candidate from Ludhiana West. Now he will resign from the post of MP and in his place Arvind Kejriwal or Manish Sisodia will be made a Rajya Sabha member.”
He said in a post on X, “Once again Punjab has been forced to surrender to Delhi. Punjab is paying its price, but Bhagwant Maan is careless … He is not worried about Punjab and Punjabis at all.”
However, AAP’s Punjab spokesperson Neil Garg termed these claims a rumor. Garg told reporters, “The by -election date has not been announced yet. He (opposition parties) has started spreading rumors. There is no truth in this. Who will go to the Rajya Sabha will be decided when the by -election will be the results. The best candidate will be sent to Rajya Sabha.”
AAP has seven members in Rajya Sabha from Punjab – Pathak, Raghav Chadha, former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Ashok Mittal, Environmentalist Balbir Singh Sechewal and industrialist Vikramjit Singh.
