Lok Sabha Election 2024: Will Arvind Kejriwal become a rallying point for INDIA bloc?

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by Enforcement Directorate on March 21. (file photo)

Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal’s late-night arrest on March 21 in an excise policy case has the potential to galvanise the opposition INDIA bloc, prompting the member parties to set aside differences to take on the BJP with renewed vigour.

Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) comes less than a month before the Lok Sabha polls open and almost two months after Hemant Soren was arrested by the agency, which investigates money laundering and other financial crimes. Soren quit as the CM hours before he was arrested.

INDIA bloc leaders have been unequivocal in slamming the arrest of Kejriwal, a key figure of the opposition alliance that came into being in July to dislodge the Narendra Modi-led BJP from power at the Centre.

In less than a year of its existence, the 27-member bloc has battled disagreements on various issues, with seat-sharing emerging as the biggest sticking point.

Unite to fight

Political analysts say Kejriwal’s arrest could be a rallying point for the fledgling coalition.

“It is a drastic step taken by the government which has all the chances to boomerang. The opposition members have had differences always and they have a chance to unite now to face any coercive action together,” political analyst Rasheed Kidwai said.

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, who has been a reluctant participant, charting her course on sharing seats and staying away from meetings, is unlikely to continue to be as aloof, say analysts.

She has announced candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, leaving nothing for the Congress. Her relationship with the Congress’ state unit is acrimonious at best though she shares a better equation with the central leadership.

The AAP gained prominence in the INDIA bloc, as it claimed it agreed to share seats despite “pressure” from the government to stay away.

Its leaders have claimed on several occasions the Centre warned party members that Kejriwal would be arrested if AAP tie-up with the Congress.

The two sides are sharing seats in Delhi, Goa, Gujarat and Haryana but not in Punjab, where the AAP is in power.

In the national capital, AAP, which has never won a Lok Sabah seat, has fielded candidates on four seats and the Congress on the remaining three.

The Kejriwal glue

Opposition leaders have spoke in one voice against Kejriwal's arrest, slamming its "dictatorial" behaviour, which, they say, poses a threat to democracy as well as free and fair Lok Sabha elections.

AAP minister Saurabh Bharadwaj thanked Congress’ Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, DMK’s MK Stalin and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav for the “love” they have shown for Kejriwal.

“What is being done with Kejriwal is injustice. The BJP is all trying to finish a political party. Our legal experts are working on the next course of action,” Bharadwaj has added.

The arrest will help AAP in both Lok Sabha and assembly polls, which are due in early 2025, say experts.

“In the political circle, sympathy is a major achievement for a politician. This has been seen in Jayalalithaa and former telecom minister Sukh Ram’s case. They have bounced back,” Kidwai said.