Manish Sisodia to begin padyatra on Aug 14 as re-energised AAP gets into election mode

But now, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in jail, it is Sisodia who will hit the ground.

This was among the several decisions taken during his meeting with senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders at his former official residence at Mathura Road.

While the padyatra will start on Wednesday, Sisodia will meet Delhi MLAs and councillors on Monday and Tuesday.

“It may seem like the Assembly polls are still a long way off, but we need to start campaigning as soon as possible. While we are confident that we will win, Manish ji’s return is only going to strengthen us further. We also know that the CM will get bail soon but we want to start preparing in earnest,” a senior party leader said.

Talking about Sisodia’s role and his importance, another leader said, “For several years, we have seen him mostly running the government even if the CM was busy with political campaigns. The situation has almost been reversed now. The ministers are in touch with the CM at Tihar jail and can discuss issues of governance, while Manish ji will go door-to-door,” he said.

Sunday’s meeting saw Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and Sandeep Pathak; Ministers Gopal Rai (who is also AAP’s Delhi State Convener), Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi and Imran Hussain; National Secretary Pankaj Gupta, MLA Durgesh Pathak, and senior leader Jasmine Shah, among others, in attendance.

“…(he) held a detailed discussion on strategies to defeat the BJP… The leaders’ suggestions were carefully considered, and a consensus was reached on how to proceed strategically based on the prevailing circumstances,” a statement issued by the party said.

“It is now clear to the people of this country that the only agenda of BJP and PM Narendra Modi is to somehow stop the work of the people of Delhi and break the AAP. Despite so many adverse circumstances, today the AAP is standing tall and doing good work. Also, our party is moving forward in every state. We have come out of these difficulties stronger. Manish Sisodia will go among the people and meet them. The blessings of the people remain with us. We will continue to work hard for Delhi in the future too,” Sandeep Pathak said.

Another thing that was discussed is the way forward in Haryana, which goes to polls before Delhi. Sunita Kejriwal, wife of CM Kejriwal, has been holding public meetings in this regard.

“It has been decided that she will continue campaigning in Haryana with Singh and other leaders and Manish ji will stick to Delhi for the time being. The organisation in Delhi has suffered a lot over the past three-four months. There are some MLAs who have found getting any work done extremely difficult and are now facing a situation where the public sentiment is turning negative. We are sure that with the direct intervention from the top, the cadre will be re-energised,” another leader said.

Sisodia, meanwhile, also met the Patparganj constituency volunteers.