New Delhi: The Supreme Court’s interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case Friday is set to turn the Aam Aadmi Party’s Lok Sabha campaign “aggressive” with the emphasis on projecting the judicial relief as a “divine intervention”.
The party has drawn up a plan to launch a campaign blitzkrieg involving interviews, roadshows, and public meetings featuring Kejriwal, accompanied by his wife Sunita Kejriwal, across states where the INDIA bloc is locked in close contests with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
That Kejriwal’s relief will infuse fresh energy and momentum into the AAP’s campaign became evident with the party headquarters erupting into cheers and slogans, melting away the air of despondency, minutes after the top court pronounced its order.
The party was hopeful of obtaining a favourable order Tuesday itself. In anticipation, its senior leaders, including general secretary (organisation), Sandeep Pathak had even returned to Delhi from Punjab where he was campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls.
Eventually, the relief came Friday. Senior leaders including Delhi Cabinet ministers Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Gopal Rai, along with senior leader Jasmine Shah, got into a huddle in the AAP office soon after the order came.
“Knowing how he (Kejriwal) works, we are quite sure that he will waste no time in pumping up the campaign efforts. A lot depends on what he has in mind. But the campaign will turn aggressive like never before,” a senior AAP leader said.
ThePrint has learnt that Kejriwal, in his public addresses, will project the court’s interim bail to him as a form of “divine intervention to defeat the BJP and the RSS”. Previously, Kejriwal had described himself as someone sent by God to slay “the descendants of Kansa“.
“The party has been carrying out surveys to assess the impact of his arrest. The sympathy factor had pushed up the AAP’s numbers by two to three percentage points but it dipped after the BJP infused the discourse with communal rhetoric. Only he (Kejriwal) can counter that in a language and idiom that will strike a chord with people. That’s what he had done in 2020 to counter the BJP’s thrust on CAA which had sparked protests,” the leader said.
In the run up to Delhi’s 2020 Assembly election, Kejriwal had sought to blunt the BJP’s offensive pivoted around the Citizenship (Amendment) Act by highlighting the potential economic impact of allowing people from neighbouring countries to settle in India on its existing population.
On Friday, addressing a press conference, Bharadwaj, flanked by Rai, Atishi and Shah, said that it was no less than a miracle that Kejriwal was granted interim bail in a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) where the conditions for relief are stringent.
“This is an extraordinary moment. It will effect a major shift in the country’s mood. He is walking out with a big purpose,” Bharadwaj told reporters, as AAP workers sloganed in unison — ‘Taanashahi ka ek hi kaal, Kejriwal, Kejriwal’.
Shah said the election campaign, in the real sense, will “begin now”, echoing the general sense of optimism that swept the party following the interim bail to its supremo, who was arrested on 21 March by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from his official residence.
As per the plan, Kejriwal will not restrict himself to Delhi, but campaign across states, especially Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana and Punjab. In Delhi, his roadshows will also feature Sunita Kejriwal who had emerged as the AAP’s star campaigner in his absence.
On Friday, when the SC was pronouncing its order, Sunita was in Tihar, where the Delhi CM has been lodged since 1 April after he was sent to judicial custody, meeting him.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who previously walked out on regular bail in the same case, has also been campaigning for the INDIA bloc in many states. “If Sanjay Singh is doing it, it’s obvious that the CM (Kejriwal) is going to do the same,” an AAP leader said.
As part of the INDIA bloc, the AAP is fighting four seats in Delhi, one in Haryana, where voting will take place on 25 May. In Punjab, where polling is on 1 June, the party is contesting in all the 13 seats. It fielded two candidates in Assam as well.
For all the hope and optimism generated by the interim bail to Kejriwal, the AAP is also mindful that the euphoria will take no time to dissipate if it fails to perform well in the elections.
“A lot hinges on 4 June (counting day). Our situation is like that of a long distance lover who is happy that she is getting to meet her partner but also sad that he will leave soon,” quipped an AAP functionary.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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