J&K Assembly Polls: Sunita Kejriwal to Lead Campaign as AAP Announces Seven Candidates

Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, will be the party’s leading star campaigner for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, scheduled for next month, along with the Delhi chief minister who is currently in jail. Sunita Kejriwal has been leading the AAP’s campaign in Haryana too.

The AAP on Sunday made public the list of star campaigners for the J&K assembly polls with Arvind Kejriwal’s name at the top, followed by Sunita Kejriwal’s.

Sunita Kejriwal is a retired IRS officer. While she had been away from politics all these years, the arrest of her husband has made her a prominent name in public rallies and outreach by the party. She also campaigned for the party in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls and in Haryana where elections will be held on October 1. She has been visiting the state almost every week to hold rallies.

Arvind Kejriwal has been in jail since March this year after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with allegations that he, along with others, conspired to manipulate the state excise policy to benefit certain liquor vendors unfairly.

The first two positions in the list of 40 people declared by the party were captured by the couple followed by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and former Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who was also in jail and walked out after 17 months a few weeks ago. Jailed AAP leader Satyendar Jain has also been given space in the list.

AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh, Sandeep Pathak and ND Gupta are also in the top 10 along with Delhi cabinet minister Gopal Rai.

AAP announces seven candidates

Soon after announcing that the party will be fighting the assembly polls independently, the AAP also announced the first list of seven candidates for the first assembly polls in the Union Territory. The list covers Pulwama (Fayaz Ahmed Sofi), Rajpora (Muddasir Hassan), Devsar (Sheikh Fida Hussain), Dooru (Mohsin Shafkat Mir), Doda (Mehraj Din Malik), Doda West (Yasir Shafi Matto), and Banihal (Musassir Azmat Mir).

AAP is a national party that is ruling in Delhi and Punjab. The party will also fight elections in Haryana without any alliance so far. The J&K polls will be held in three phases from September 18, while Haryana will vote on October 1. The results will be declared on October 4.