Bhagoda again? Arvind Kejriwal may quit as Delhi CM to contest Punjab polls, says report

Kejriwal had apologised to people of Delhi and promised that he would serve full term as chief minister if elected.

December 11, 2015, NewsCrunch

Arvind Kejriwal may break his promise to people of Delhi and quit as chief minister again to lead AAP in Punjab.

Punjab is due for polls in 2017 and Kejriwal reportedly feels that AAP has a good chance of sweeping the state if he leads the campaign personally.

Quoting AAP sources, The Telegraph reports that he is even looking for a constituency in Punjab.

The Delhi CM is scheduled to address a pre-poll rally next month, which will kick off his increasing involvement in the Punjab affairs.

The Telegraph also said, in Delhi, he would be replaced by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who already handles key portfolios such as finance, education, planning and urban development.

In contrast, Kejriwal does not have any ministry assigned to him.

He has reportedly sounded out leaders close to him such as Mamta Banerjees and Nitish Kumar and received their endorsement.

Kejriwal's move does not come as a surprise as Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh had recently said his state would not be interested in having Kejriwal, a Haryanvi, as chief minister.

But people of Delhi may suffer from a sense of deja vu if Kejriwal goes ahead and announces his decision.

AAP won Delhi assembly elections in 2013  and formed a coalition with Congress. He disbanded the government after 49 days to contest in the 2014 general elections, earning the label Bhagoda CM.

After receiving a bad drubbing in the general election, AAP again contested for Delhi assembly this year. When campaigning started, Kejriwal faced a major credibility issue as many questioned if the Bhadoga CM could be relied upon to stay for long.

Kejriwal had apologised to people of Delhi and promised that he would serve full term as chief minister if elected.

AAP leader Ashutosh dismissed The Telegraph report on Friday. He tweeted saying the report was   baseless and just went on to show how AAP had scared Akalis and Congress in Punjab.