Arvind Kejriwal In Jail, Manish Sisodia To Lead AAP’s Assembly Poll Campaign

With Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal still in jail, his close confidante and former deputy Manish Sisodia has taken charge of the party’s campaign for the assembly polls in the national capital and Haryana.

Mr Sisodia, who has been granted bail by the Supreme Court in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the Delhi liquor policy case, will today hold a meeting of the senior party members.

The 52-year-old walked out of Tihar jail on Friday after spending 17 months behind bars, giving a shot to the AAP in its arm, which is still trying to fight the setback it received after its chief, Mr Kejriwal, was sent to jail in a case related to the alleged liquor policy scam.

The meeting of the AAP leaders is scheduled to be held at 6 pm at Mr Sisodia’s residence. 

Assembly elections in Haryana, where the AAP has announced to contest all 90 assembly seats, are due later this year, while polls in 70 constituencies of Delhi are expected to take place in the beginning of 2025.

Manish Sisodia Is Key Face Of AAP

Manish Sisodia, the former deputy chief minister of Delhi, has been the key face behind the rise of the AAP since its inception after the 2011 anti-corruption movement.

The AAP credits Mr Sisodia for “underscoring his pivotal role in shaping the multi-faceted governance landscape (of Delhi)” and “revolutionalising” the education system of Delhi government schools.

Before signing off his cabinet responsibilities, he held 18 crucial portfolios, including education, finance, planning land and building, vigilance services, women and child development, as well as art, culture, and languages, among others.

He, however, resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023, two days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested him for alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy 2021-22.

Mr Sisodia has won the Delhi assembly elections thrice, securing the Patparganj constituency in East Delhi.