File photo of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday met AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in the Tihar jail in Delhi and discussed the party's performance in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections, party sources said.
The meeting was held in the visitor's room (Mulakati Jangla) of the Tihar jail at 12.30 pm. The Delhi chief minister's wife Sunita Kejriwal was present during the meeting, official sources said.
It was the first meeting between Mann and the Delhi chief minister after the Lok Sabha poll results which came out on June 4. This was the third meeting between the two in the prisons since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo was sent to Tihar Jail on April 1.
Kejriwal is lodged in Tihar's jail number 2 in the excise policy-linked money laundering case.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress dealt a blow to the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP and SAD, winning seven of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab even as two Independents registered a surprise victory.
The AAP could manage to win three seats of Hoshiarpur, Anandpur Sahib and Sangrur as against the target of winning all 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections.
The AAP recorded a vote share of 26.02 per cent in the general elections, up from 7.38 per cent in the 2019 parliamentary polls.
Meanwhile, one assembly segment is going to fall vacant after MLA and cabinet minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer's election from the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat.
The party had fielded eight MLAs, including five cabinet ministers in the Lok Sabha polls but only Hayer could register victory.
The party is also getting ready for the bypoll to the Jalandhar West assembly segment which will be held on July 10.
The byelection was necessitated following the resignation of Sheetal Angural as an AAP legislator.
Meanwhile, the AAP denied certain media reports pertaining to cabinet reshuffle.
"There are rumors circulating that AAP in Punjab is going to reshuffle their ministers in response to recent loss in the general elections. We'd like to clarify that this information is false & is not coming from an official source, (sic)" said AAP Punjab general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat in a post on X.
The official sources said the meeting between Mann and Kejriwal was held following all security protocols for the Punjab chief minister who enjoys Z+ security cover.
According to the jail rules, two visitors can meet an inmate twice a week in a prison. A prisoner is also allowed to talk to his family members for five minutes daily on phone.
Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21.
The Supreme Court had on May 10 granted an interim bail for 21 days to Kejriwal for campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections. He surrendered at the Tihar jail on June 2.
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