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Kejriwal’s renewed campaign is important for AAP, which is awaiting a comeback after the party’s debacle in the Delhi assembly polls
Any victory—even in bypolls—is critical for AAP, which is seeking ways to remain politically relevant. (X @ArvindKejriwal)
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has re-entered the election campaign trail, holding back-to-back roadshows in Punjab’s Ludhiana West and Gujarat’s Visavadar assembly constituencies last week. Both these assemblies are set to go for bypolls on June 19.
Kejriwal’s renewed campaign activity is important for AAP, which is awaiting a comeback after the party’s debacle in the Delhi assembly polls. Any victory—even in bypolls—is critical for AAP, which is seeking ways to remain politically relevant.
After sweeping Delhi in 2015 and 2020, AAP suffered a major setback in 2025. Kejriwal, who served as chief minister for nearly a decade, lost his seat in 2025 and failed to return to the Delhi Assembly.
Now, five assembly seats across four states are headed for bypolls and AAP is trying its luck in three of these—Visavadar and Kadi from Gujarat and Ludhiana West in Punjab. Both these states—Punjab and Gujarat—will go for assembly polls in 2027.
Punjab: A Bid for Parliament
After the party’s defeat in Delhi, AAP and its leadership have shifted their focus to Punjab, the only other state where they are in power.
The election in Punjab’s Ludhiana West is critical for AAP for a number of reasons, including an opportunity for Kejriwal to get entry into Parliament. In February, AAP named its Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, Sanjeev Arora, to be its candidate for the Ludhiana West bypoll, even when the dates for the elections were not announced.
https://www.news18.com/politics/arvind-kejriwal-heading-to-parliament-buzz-grows-louder-as-aap-fields-rs-member-in-bypoll-9241144.html
The seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Singh Gogi in January. The rules state that the elections to fill a vacant seat have to be conducted within six months. The term of the Punjab Assembly will end in March 2027. While AAP already holds a comfortable majority in Punjab, a win in the Ludhiana West bypoll would reaffirm its public mandate.
Last week, Arora filed his nomination for the bypoll. If he wins, he will have to let go of his Parliament membership. The Rajya Sabha seat then may be contested by Kejriwal, where the election will only be a formality, as out of 117 MLAs in Punjab, 93 are from AAP.
On Friday, Kejriwal held a roadshow for Arora. While addressing the roadshow, Kejriwal said in 2022, his party got support from Punjab as they won 92 of 117 seats. Kejriwal said Arora “has Ludhiana running through his veins” and the constituency cannot “find a better candidate or MLA than him”.
लुधियाना में हुए रोडशो में उमड़े जनसैलाब ने साफ़ कर दिया है कि उपचुनाव में भी जनता काम की राजनीति को ही वोट देगी। पंजाब बदल चुका है, अब लोग काम को ही चुनते हैं। आम आदमी पार्टी के उम्मीदवार संजीव अरोड़ा जी ने आज लुधियाना (पश्चिम) सीट पर नामांकन दाखिल किया। लुधियाना की जनता भी… pic.twitter.com/b5PIHVH9gq
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 30, 2025
The Ludhiana West assembly seat will see a four-way contest. The BJP has named Jiwan Gupta, while Congress is trusting its senior leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu. Among the list of candidates is also Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parupkar Singh Ghumman.
While Punjab holds strategic importance for AAP’s parliamentary ambitions, Gujarat presents a test of its grassroots strength against a long-dominant BJP that ended AAP’s more than 10-year-old term in Delhi.
Gujarat: Kejriwal Bets On Gopal Italia
After holding the roadshow in Punjab on Friday, Kejriwal went to Gujarat on Saturday to campaign for Gopal Italia who is contesting from Visavadar.
In the 2022 assembly polls, AAP was elected from Visavadar. However, sitting MLA Bhupendra Bhayani resigned from the party and moved to BJP earlier this year. Thus, the bypoll in the Visavadar seat became necessary. Though the BJP has ruled Gujarat since 1998, the Visavadar seat last elected the BJP in 2007.
Speaking at the roadshow for the filing of Italia’s nomination papers, Kejriwal said for the last 18 years, the people of Visavadar have not allowed the BJP to enter, and the party has not been able to win an election here in all these years.
He went on to say that the BJP is insulting Visavadar “by horse-trading every elected MLA”.
“…BJP is openly saying that whoever the people of Visavadar elect, they will horse-trade with them. Challenging the BJP, I say that this time AAP has fielded its biggest hero—Gopal Italia. Let BJP try to break Gopal Italia, and I will quit politics. The people of Visavadar must elect Gopal Italia with a huge margin so that BJP gets a tight slap,” he said.
विसावदर के रोड-शो में उमड़ी अपार भीड़, जिसने बता दिया कि जनता का भरोसा आज भी AAP पर कायम है। गुजरात के विसावदर से आज आम आदमी पार्टी के उम्मीदवार गोपाल भाई इटालिया ने नामांकन दाखिल किया। इस उपचुनाव में जनता एक बार फिर से AAP को ही चुनेगी। pic.twitter.com/nYNKXbSuoN— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 31, 2025
Apart from the Visavadar seat, Kadi—which is vacant due to the death of sitting BJP MLA Karsanbhai Punjabhai Solanki—will also go for bypolls. AAP has fielded Jagdish Chavda from the seat, who will file his nomination on Monday, the last day for nominations.
All these bypolls will be held on June 19, and the counting will be held on June 23. These bypolls will not just decide immediate winners but could shape the political landscape of Punjab and Gujarat ahead of the 2027 assembly elections.
Nivedita Singh is a data journalist and covers the Election Commission, Indian Railways and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. She has nearly seven years of experience in the news media. She tweets @nived…Read More
Nivedita Singh is a data journalist and covers the Election Commission, Indian Railways and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. She has nearly seven years of experience in the news media. She tweets @nived… Read More
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