With a special court in Delhi discharging Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the alleged liquor excise policy case even before a trial could begin, the AAP has been handed a much-needed political breather, especially in Punjab, the only state where the party currently holds power.
On Friday, the court found there was “no overarching conspiracy or criminal intent in the excise policy” in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) case, though the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case in the matter remains pending.
After the AAP’s humiliating defeat in the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections, the verdict is being framed within the party as both vindication and revival. After losing Delhi to the BJP after a decade in power, the AAP’s top leadership pivoted sharply towards Punjab. Kejriwal and Sisodia increased their presence in Chandigarh, tightening organisational control and recalibrating its strategy around the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government in a shift that did not go unnoticed within the state unit.
A number of Punjab AAP leaders had privately expressed unease over “growing centralisation” and the perception that the Delhi leadership was now running Punjab more directly. The “remote control” politics had led to murmurs within party ranks, giving the Opposition a line of attack. “The (discharge) will alter internal dynamics. Now, Kejriwal and the party will go around the state to convey a message that he is kattar-imaandaar (staunchly honest) and so is the AAP. It will be a consolidation after vindication,” said an AAP leader.
The party leadership is already planning to use the court’s decision to reclaim its core plank of anti-corruption ahead of the Assembly elections early next year. In Punjab, that plank has deep roots. Since 2014, when the AAP made unexpected inroads by winning four Lok Sabha seats, Kejriwal has presented himself as an “outsider” willing to challenge corruption in Punjab. Kejriwal’s most valuable political asset in Punjab was the perception of personal integrity, an image that dates back to his days in the India Against Corruption movement. That image was behind the party’s growth, culminating in the sweeping 2022 Assembly victory. The electorate returned 92 AAP members to the Vidhan Sabha, an overwhelming majority in the 117-seat Assembly.
The liquor scam allegations had cast a shadow over that carefully crafted narrative. Opposition parties repeatedly questioned the AAP’s moral high ground. The clean chit for the AAP is not merely a legal development, but is also being viewed as a political opportunity.
Punjab Cabinet minister Harjot Singh Bains said the court’s decision was a “victory for truth”. “Honourable court has acquitted Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia in the fake liquor scam, which is a victory for truth. This is a good omen. Now in 2027, the records of 2022 will be broken and in 2030, Arvind Kejriwal will return to the country’s capital,” he said.
The AAP has twin ambitions in the run up to the 2027 Assembly Elections – to repeat its 2022 performance in Punjab and then to use the state as a springboard for a national revival and a comeback in Delhi. For the AAP, Punjab is no longer just another state, it is the anchor of its national relevance.
“The verdict provides a morale boost to the cadre. It will also lend legitimacy to Kejriwal and Sisodia to campaign aggressively. It will also give a handle to Kejriwal against the Opposition parties and allow the AAP to sharpen its ‘victim of political vendetta’ pitch while reclaiming its anti-corruption credentials,” said an AAP leader.
How Opposition reacted
The Opposition, however, sees a pattern in the acquittal. Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Partap Bajwa, a Congress MLA, was quick to respond to the clean chit. “Punjab excise case of Rs 12,000 crore in cold storage, despite the CBI taking statements from bureaucrats. Bail given to Kejriwal before the 2024 Haryana Assembly polls. No FIR registered against (ex-Delhi CM) Atishi for blasphemy. Now Kejriwal and his associates are given clean chits. What a friendly match! Velvet glove boxing by BJP and AAP,” Bajwa said in a post on X.
Asking whether it was a “quid pro quo” deal between the AAP and BJP, Bajwa added, “The deal: not letting farmers of Punjab hold protests against the Indo-US trade deal. Ensuring the AAP keeps floating in Punjab and Gujarat to hamper the Congress. Names of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and Kejriwal will be remembered for making democracy a commodity.”
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring echoed Bajwa’s remarks, saying, “The Central government filed serious charges and imprisoned him for 1.5 years… If there were no serious charges, why were they imprisoned? And if there were, how were they (discharged)? The BJP, Modiji, Amit Shah, and Kejriwal can provide better answers.”
“Whether someone is acquitted or jailed makes no difference to the people of Punjab. They are only concerned about whether we (the people of Punjab) and the Aam Aadmi Party government we formed, delivered justice,” Warring added.