Story by Raksha Bhattacharjee
Sanjeev AroraSanjeev Arora, an industrialist from Ludhiana who is an AAP member, has served in the Rajya Sabha since 2022.
On Wednesday, the Aam Aadmi Party announced Sanjiv Arora, a member of the Rajya Sabha, as the party’s candidate for the Ludhiana West assembly by-election, igniting rumors that Arvind Kejriwal might run for office.
Sanjiv Arora is an industrialist from Ludhiana who joined the Rajya Sabha in 2022. The Ludhiana West seat became empty after AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi passed away this month, hence he was chosen to run in the bypoll.
Getting into the Rajya Sabha with Arvind Kejriwal?
In his comments, Amit Malviya, the chairman of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s IT cell, questioned whether Sanjiv Arora’s candidacy was meant to “clear the path for Arvind Kejriwal, who just lost his own seat in New Delhi, to get nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.” “Instead of Kejriwal, wouldn’t it be preferable if someone from Punjab represented the state?” In an X post, Amit Malviya posed the question.
After the AAP suffered a humiliating setback in the 2025 Delhi assembly election, where BJP candidate Parvesh Verma defeated the former chief minister from the New Delhi constituency, Arvind Kejriwal, the party’s national convenor, apparently turned his attention to Punjab.
In the two years leading up to the 2027 assembly elections, Arvind Kejriwal wants to strengthen his party’s position in Punjab. Amit Malviya also questioned whether Arora had been given a ministerial position by the AAP after he won the by-election and left his seat. “We must denounce this type of transactional politics. In order for Sanjeev Arora to give Arvind Kejriwal his seat without losing his own, the people of Ludhiana must oppose him,” he continued.
It is noteworthy that this also occurs just one day after Congressman and Punjab’s Leader of the Opposition, Partap Singh Bajwa, asserted that Kejriwal’s admission to the Rajya Sabha is certain. Kejriwal first considered running for office using the seat of the late AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi, but he withdrew out of fear of Punjabi retribution, according to Bajwa.
Bajwa stated in an interview with the news agency ANI that Kejriwal’s admission into Parliament will undoubtedly take place. “It’s likely that there is some truth to the rumors about Arora sahab (of AAP MP Sanjeev Arora running in the Ludhiana West Assembly by-election),” Bajwa had observed.
