Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal is soon set to take the centrestage of the party’s political future, at least so long as her husband is in jail.
Following the party chief’s arrest on March 21, Sunita Kejriwal was given her first “political responsibility” as a “star campaigner” for AAP in Gujarat.
A former Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, Sunita Kejriwal’s name was placed just a notch below that of her husband in the list of 40 “star campaigners” for the state. The AAP has fielded candidates in two of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat — Dediapada MLA Chaitar Vasava from Bharuch and Botad MLA Umesh Makwana from the Bhavnagar seat — as part of its alliance with Congress, its INDIA bloc ally.
Sunita, 58, following her taking part at party events in Gujarat, is likely to take to the stage at Ranchi’s ‘Nyaya Ulgulan Rally’ being held by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) — at the call of former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren’s wife, Kalpana — on April 21. Both had taken to the centre-stage at an INDIA rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan last month.
In addition to the Kejriwals, the “star campaigners” include Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, the entire Delhi cabinet of ministers including jailed leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha, AAP national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak, and about 20 senior party leaders from Gujarat.
Party sources did not rule out the possibility of Sunita Kejriwal being assigned “more organisational responsibilities” over the coming days.
“This is not an appointment per se but is certainly Sunita ji’s first political responsibility. Whether or not more responsibilities will be assigned to her is a call that the party will take when required over the coming days,” said an AAP insider.
Asked whether her role would remain limited to being present at party events as part of its poll campaign or would go beyond that, an AAP leader said this would depend on the party’s candidates.
“If the candidate asks, Sunita ji may also address a public gathering or a rally. Since she is a star campaigner, she is free to be part of the party’s campaign in whatever way she deems fit. The final call on this will be taken by the party over the coming days,” the AAP leader said.
Final clarity on Sunita Kejriwal’s role within the party was likely only after the Lok Sabha elections — but this was subject to change given the political crisis that the party currently finds itself in the midst of.
Last month, Sunita Kejriwal had shared the stage with INDIA bloc leaders, alongside Kalpana Soren, at the Opposition’s rally on March 31.
Meanwhile, reacting to the development, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said: “Arvind Kejriwal’s train of corruption has reached the parivarvaad (nepotism) station.”
“The list of star campaigners has revealed that Kejriwal’s wife is now more important than the CM of Punjab and the party’s general secretary (Pathak),” Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said.
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