When AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal made a rare video appearance on Friday to announce his meeting with B Sudarshan Reddy, the joint opposition candidate for the Vice-Presidential poll, heads turned.
This was after a significant gap that Kejriwal was making a video statement – his chosen medium of communication with the people of Delhi when he was the Chief Minister here.
But these appearances have been few and far between ever since the BJP wrested power in New Delhi after a gap of 27 years defeating the Kejriwal-led ruling AAP in 2024.
The last press conference Kejriwal addressed was in June, a day after the party won an Assembly bypoll in Ludhiana West, Punjab, and Visavadar in Gujarat. AAP leaders Sanjeev Arora and Gopal Italia had bagged the above-mentioned seats.
In that address, Kejriwal had clearly stated that he will not go to Rajya Sabha after Arora’s resignation. The buzz was he would stay free to travel and expand AAP’s base.
Increasingly, the AAP national convener has been addressing rallies in Punjab, where it has a government, and Gujarat where it is making inroads.
The public presence of Kejriwal and his trusted aides in Delhi has become progressively low, with former minister Saurabh Bhardwaj holding the fort here and confidantes Manish Sisodia and Satyender Jain concentrating in Punjab which will go to the polls in 2027.
Kejriwal realises the importance of Punjab which AAP must win to retain its national party status.
The criteria for a national party includes – it should have secured at least six per cent of the total valid votes in at least four states (in the latest Lok Sabha or Assembly elections)/must have at least four MPs in the last Lok Sabha polls/or it should have won at least two per cent of the total seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three states/or it should be ‘recognised’ in four or more states.
This is crucial as AAP at present has three Lok Sabha MPs, all from Punjab, which is short of the two per cent criteria. Given the fact if it loses Punjab and does not perform well in Gujarat, then its national status might be revoked.
That explains the shift of Kejriwal-led top AAP brass to Punjab while former CM Atishi and Bhardwaj take care of the party’s Delhi affairs.