Depleted AAP names star campaigners for Gujarat
NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday named three imprisoned senior party leaders — Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and Satyendar Jain — among its list of 40 “star campaigners” in Gujarat ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The AAP’s list of star campaigners also features Delhi chief minister’s wife Sunita Kejriwal — the second name on the list after Arvind Kejriwal, who is also the party’s national convener. This is the first time she has been included as a star campaigner in any election the AAP has contested.
An AAP leader said Sunita Kejriwal is likely to be included in the list of star campaigners for Delhi and Haryana as well.
Another AAP functionary said that the party hopes that Kejriwal, Sisodia and Jain will walk out of jail soon, which is why they have been included as star campaigners.
The inclusion of the three incarcerated leaders underscores the party’s depleted ranks, which have appeared to thin over the past few ranks, especially since Kejriwal’s arrest on March 21. For instance, the AAP also named Rajya Sabha lawmaker Raghav Chadha, a senior leader who has missed all of the party’s rallies and protests since he left for the United Kingdom for a surgery.
To be sure, the Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, considered a close aide of CM Kejriwal who has handled important roles in the party, has been vocal on X about the chief minister’s arrest, and has changed his profile photo on the social media platform to that of Kejriwal behind bars, in consonance with the party line.
However, his protracted absence and delayed return to India has fuelled speculation about his political future.
Gujarat, which elects 26 MPs to the Lok Sabha, is scheduled to go to the polls in a single phase on May 7. The AAP will contest two seats in the state — Bharuch and Bhavnagar.
The BJP said the AAP was facing a “shortage of star campaigners”.
Other leaders included on the list include Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann; AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta, parliamentarians Sanjay Singh and Sandeep Pathak; Delhi ministers Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, and Imran Hussain; Punjab AAP legislator Aman Arora; and Gujarat AAP leaders Isudan Gadhvi and Gopal Italia.
One noticeable name not on the AAP list is Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal, who made a name for herself as a street fighter during her stint as the chief of the Delhi Commission for Women. She left for the United States to attend to her ailing sister and is yet to return.
The AAP functionary quoted above said Maliwal did not feature in the list for Gujarat because she is an MP from Delhi, and has not been active in the western state.
The functionary added that she is, however, likely to feature in the list of star campaigners for Delhi.
BJP leader Arun Singh said, “Every party has the right to name whoever they want as star campaigners. They (AAP) are having a shortage of star campaigners now, so they have to name someone.”