"Kejriwal can't live without power": Union Minister Ravneet Bittu on AAP nominee for Ludhiana West bypoll

New Delhi [India], February 26 (ANI): Amid speculations of Aam Admi party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal seeking a Rajya Sabha seat, Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu said that Kejriwal "can't live without power".
The speculation began after the Aam Aadmi Party's nomination of Rajya Sabha MP Sanjiv Arora as the candidate for the Ludhiana West assembly by-election. It was speculated that the RS seat held by Sanjiv Arora would go to the AAP convenor.
"We were repeatedly saying that this man (Arvind Kejriwal) cannot live without power... If Sanjeev Arora wins the MLA seat, he cannot hold both the posts of MP and MLA. If he loses, they will tell him that you lost the MLA seat, why should we give you the MP seat now, both heads and tails are Arvind Kejriwal's...," Bittu told ANI.
"The election has not even been announced yet, yet it is possible that Sanjeev Arora's resignation (from Rajya Sabha) may be taken beforehand so that Arvind Kejriwal becomes an MP...," he added.
BJP Leader Amit Malviya also raised questions on whether the AAP was preparing ground for Kejriwal to become a RS MP.
"AAP has fielded Sanjeev Arora, its Rajya Sabha MP, as a candidate for the Ludhiana West Assembly by-poll. Is this being done 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? Wouldn't it be better if someone from Punjab represented the state instead of Kejriwal? Has AAP also promised its Rajya Sabha MP a ministerial position once he wins and vacates his seat? This kind of transactional politics must be condemned. The people of Ludhiana must defeat Sanjeev Arora so that he cannot offer his seat to Arvind Kejriwal without losing his own," he said in a post on X.
AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar dismissed the claims, calling them "absolutely wrong."
"Arvind Kejriwal is not going to Rajya Sabha. As far as Arvind Kejriwal is concerned, media sources were earlier saying that he will become the Chief Minister of Punjab. Now, media sources are saying that he will contest from Rajya Sabha. Both these sources are absolutely wrong. Arvind Kejriwal is the national convenor of AAP. I agree that his demand is very high, but he is not limited to any one seat...," she said.
Kejriwal lost the New Delhi assembly seat to BJP's Parvesh Sahib Singh (Now Delhi minister) in the recently held Delhi assembly elections. (ANI)