With Sanjay Singh’s arrest, AAP loses its advisor, vocal voice in Parliament

“His position as one of AAP’s first Rajya Sabha MPs gave him the unique ability to interact and form political relationships across the board. Whether it was meeting leaders in Congress or convincing his own party colleagues to agree to an alliance, he was the person. His arrest leaves a void in that area,” said a senior party leader who has worked with Singh for several years.

Party leaders said that searches in his house were expected, especially after the houses of his associates were raided in May this year. “We did not expect that he would be arrested,” said a close associate.

“After Manish Sisodia’s arrest, Arvind ji would rely on Sanjay ji and Raghav (Chadha) for political advice and inputs. Now the circle of people he is close to and listens to is shrinking. When it comes to running the government, he can rely on ministers and advisors, but things are getting tougher in terms of consultation on politics,” said a party leader.

Another leader said that since Singh is known as a vocal critic of the Centre and BJP and a strong voice in the Parliament, the party may suffer a little on those fronts.

“But we don’t see this as something permanent, it is transient. We see it as a price of growing so quickly. The mood inside the party is resolute and ED’s action will only bring the party closer together. AAP’s obituary is written every year but it lives on,” the leader said.

Others questioned why Singh was arrested in the first place. “The allegation in the excise policy case is that the policy was tweaked to grant undue benefits to certain players. Even if that were the case, which it is not, what role does Sanjay Singh have in policy formulation? He is an MP and is in no way connected to policymaking in Delhi. What he is is one of the strongest voices in the Parliament against the Modi government and is being targeted for that,” the leader said.

AAP Punjab MP Chadha’s name has also been mentioned in a supplementary chargesheet filed by the ED. It names Chadha, quoting the statement given to the ED by Sisodia’s former secretary C Aravind on December 23, 2022, which states that he was present in a meeting at Kejriwal’s house along with some officials from Punjab.