

[Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (R) with AAP senior leader Ashutosh in a file photo.]

New Delhi: In an unending rift with Delhi Lieutenant Governor, Arvind Kejriwal is likely to resign as the Chief Minister and enter Rajya Sabha - Upper House of the Indian Parliament, party sources are cited in political circle.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which Kejriwal heads has enough number in its hand to win all three Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant in January end.

Though a formal decision about the names of the candidates to fill the three Rajya Sabha seats will be made only in the next week when the party's political affairs committee is scheduled to meet, party sources said Kejriwal will resign from the top post and enter Rajya Sabha to counter the Modi-led union government with renewed vigor.

The party had earlier accused the BJP of using the Lieutenant Governor against the AAP government in Delhi. Sources said "obstacles" by the Lieutenant Governor in every decision the party is taking for the "welfare" of Delhiites have made it almost impossible for the AAP government to function, making it unable to fulfill the promises the party had made to the people.

Echoing concern over the way the Lieutenant Governor is interfering in Delhi government’s affairs, Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal had in fact said in the Rajya Sabha that the center’s nominee is treating Kejriwal like a “Chaprasi” – a peon.

It is because of such a situation that the party sources said it is better if Kejriwal resigns as Delhi Chief Minister, enter Rajya Sabha and lead tirade against the Modi government..

It is also learnt that the AAP has decided to send Kejriwal to Rajya Sabha after its offer to noted figures like former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and former Chief Justice of India TS Thakur for a Rajya Sabha entry has been turned down by them.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Singh, a mechanical engineer, and Ashutosh, a journalist-turned-politician, are almost certain for the remaining two Rajya Sabha from Delhi.

The name of Kumar Vishwas is also taking rounds in the political circle as one of the three AAP candidates for a berth in the Parliament’s Upper House. He is since the last few days using his supporters in order to press for his claim. But, one of the front leaders of AAP once, Vishwas – son of a BJP leader, is unlikely to get the party’s support to fulfill his Rajya Sabha dream.