Mohali, Jan 10 (PTI): Arvind Kejriwal was today virtually declared the Chief Ministerial candidate in Punjab by his Aam Aadmi Party, injecting a new dimension to what is considered a three-way race in the Assembly polls. "You vote thinking that you are voting to make Arvind Kejriwal as the chief minister (of Punjab). Your vote is for Kejriwal," Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said while addressing a public gathering at village Balongi here.
AAP, which first captured power in Delhi in 2013 on the back of its civil society campaign against corruption, has been steadily making inroad in Punjab. It had won four Lok Sabha seats in 2014 but has since been marred by infighting. Sisodia assured the people that Kejriwal would honour all the promises made by the party with the people of Punjab after coming to power.
"People were asking me who will be the Punjab Chief Minister. I want to say one thing here that you should believe that Arvind Kejriwal is going to be Punjab's CM," he said. However, in the same breath, Sisodia said, "Whosoever will be the CM, it shall be the responsibility of Kejriwal to get all the promises honoured.... I give you guarantee in this regard."
Urging people to vote for party's candidate from Mohali Narinder Singh Shergill, Sisodia asked people to bring AAP to the power in order to put the state on the right track. Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal has maintained that AAP would not announce chief ministerial candidate in Punjab. The AAP's national convenor had reportedly said that the CM would be elected by the legislators after the polls.
Kejriwal won't be Punjab CM, says AAP
New Delhi, Jan 10 (IANS): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is the party's face in Punjab and this doesn't mean he will be its Chief Minister if the AAP wins, the party said on Tuesday.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi Marlena told CNN that Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's remarks on Kejriwal being the CM face in Punjab were twisted out of context.
"He (Sisodia) said vote as if Kejriwal is going to be the CM. He did not say Kejriwal will be the Chief Minister. He is the face of AAP and that is the face the people of Punjab are looking at," Marlena said.
"Kejriwal represents AAP. He represents credibility because he fulfilled several promises in Delhi. He is bringing that credibility to Punjab saying all promises made to the people of Punjab will be fulfilled," she said.
"This is not same as saying that he will be the CM there."
She added that Kejriwal was the Chief Minister of Delhi and was committed to the people of the national capital.
The AAP statement came after Sisodia, while talking to reporters in Mohali in Punjab, made an appeal to voters "to cast their votes as if to make Kejriwal the Chief Minister of Punjab".
Sisodia said Kejriwal would be responsible for fulfilling all the promises the AAP makes to the people of Punjab, where the party is contesting assembly elections besides Goa.
Sisodia's remarks were pounced upon by the Congress and the Akali Dal to say that Kejriwal was planning to desert Delhi and become the Punjab Chief Minister. The AAP has announced all 117 candidates in Punjab.