Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday hailed the party's performance in the Gujarat and Punjab bypolls, calling them a 'semi-final to 2027' and a clear sign that voters would reject both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
Punjab's ruling AAP retained the Ludhiana West assembly seat with its candidate Sanjeev Arora registering a victory in a fierce electoral fight against his nearest rival and Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu by a margin of 10,637 votes.
Kejriwal also said he would not go to the Rajya Sabha in place of Arora, who is the party's sitting Upper House member.
Arora will have to resign from the Rajya Sabha.
During the campaign, Kejriwal announced that Arora would be inducted into the Cabinet of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann if he won the bypoll.
At a press conference on Monday, Kejriwal was asked whom the party will nominate in Arora's place.
In a lighter vein, he replied, "Many times I have been sent to the Rajya Sabha."
The AAP chief said the party's political affairs committee would decide whom to nominate but he is not going to the Upper House.
After Arora's name was announced as the AAP candidate for the Ludhiana West bypoll, the opposition had been claiming that Kejriwal would enter the Rajya Sabha in Arora's place.
The names of senior leaders of the party -- Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain -- are doing the rounds as probable candidates for Arora's replacement.
Sisodia was made the in-charge of Punjab in place of Jarnail Singh after the Delhi poll debacle while Jain was named as co-incharge of the state.
The former Delhi deputy chief minister and Jain are trusted lieutenants of Kejriwal who have stood with him through thick and thin.
Sisodia has been spending most of his time in Punjab. He is likely to lead a victory march in Ludhiana West on Tuesday along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
However, a party functionary remarked it was too early to say that Sisodia would be the party's pick for the Upper House.
"The party is currently focussing on bringing reforms in the state. Education is one of the key areas where the party wants to work. We do not know when the Rajya Sabha polls will be held. It is too early to decide on any name," said the functionary.
Another functionary said the party could also nominate a Punjab leader to the Rajya Sabha.
The bypoll results in the Visavadar seat in Gujarat saw AAP's Gopal Italia winning while the BJP's Rajendra Chavda bagged the Kadi seat.
At the press conference following the results, Kejriwal said, "We have won with almost double the margin by which we won in 2022. This shows that we are doing good work in Punjab. Some people are saying this is a semi-final to 2027 there will be a storm of AAP in 2027."
Both Gujarat and Punjab will face assembly elections in 2027.
Italia, the former Gujarat president of the AAP, defeated his nearest rival, BJP candidate Kirit Patel, in the Visavadar seat of Junagadh district by a margin of 17,554 votes.
While Italia received 75,942 votes, Patel got 58,388 votes after the end of 21 rounds of counting, according to the data shared by the Election Commission.
Kejriwal said the people of Punjab had endorsed AAP's governance with overwhelming support.
"By giving us a huge margin win, people of Punjab have given their stamp of approval on AAP's work in the state," he said.
He also emphasised the significance of AAP's win in Gujarat, traditionally a BJP bastion.
"It is often said that the ruling party wins in bypolls. But our win in Gujarat shows that people are fed up with the 30 years of BJP rule. They now see AAP as a credible alternative," Kejriwal said.
Criticising the Congress, Kejriwal alleged that the party was working hand-in-glove with the BJP.
"These bypolls showed how Congress leadership helped BJP just to defeat AAP. Congress has become the kathputli (puppet) of BJP. I request Congress workers to realise this and join AAP," he said.
Pointing to AAP's political trajectory in Gujarat, Kejriwal recalled, "In February 2022, we won Visavadar but the MLA later joined BJP. Today, we've won Visavadar and Ludhiana West with nearly double the margins. It's a huge indication that people are happy with our work."
Kejriwal congratulated Gopal Italia and Sanjeev Arora, saying the twin victories signal that the fight in Gujarat is now directly between AAP and the BJP as the Congress "enjoys a cosy relationship with the ruling party".
Celebrations broke out at AAP headquarters in Delhi where party workers distributed 'laddoos' and raised slogans, calling the results a glimpse of the political shift expected in the run-up to the 2027 elections.
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