After Delhi court’s relief to AAP leaders in excise case, CM Vijayan likely to meet Kejriwal

The acquittal of Arvind Kejriwal has boosted opposition morale, with Pinarayi Vijayan likely to meet him in Delhi, signalling renewed anti-Centre solidarity ahead of Kerala’s Assembly elections

New Delhi: The acquittal of former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi liquor policy case has injected fresh energy into opposition ranks and could soon find resonance in Kerala’s fast-evolving political landscape as the state heads to Assembly elections.

With Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Delhi to attend the Politburo meeting of the CPI-M, indications are that he is likely to call on Kejriwal in what would be a politically loaded meeting.

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The two leaders share a warm personal rapport. In 2024, when CM Vijayan led a high-profile protest in the national capital, accusing the Centre of financially strangling opposition-ruled states, Kejriwal, then Delhi Chief Minister, had joined him in a show of solidarity. That gesture had signalled a broader convergence among non-BJP regional forces against what they describe as the aggressive use of Central agencies.

Kejriwal’s exoneration by the Rouse Avenue Court has now altered the optics. For opposition parties, the verdict reinforces their long-standing allegation that Central investigative agencies are being deployed selectively to target political adversaries of the BJP. The Aam Aadmi Party has termed the judgment a “second birth” for its leader, and there is renewed talk of opposition cohesion under the INDIA bloc framework.

For CM Vijayan, the timing is significant. With Assembly elections approaching and the Left Democratic Front still grappling with the narrative fallout of its drubbing in the recent local body polls, the dominant theme emerging from the CPI(M) camp has been one of “political victimisation” by the Centre.

Central agency probes active in Kerala have been projected as part of that broader pattern. A meeting between CM Vijayan and Kejriwal at this juncture would therefore serve multiple purposes, reinforcing political solidarity, sharpening the anti-Centre plank, and reframing the electoral discourse ahead of a high-stakes contest.

In a season where optics often shape momentum, such an encounter could resonate well beyond Delhi’s political corridors and echo into Kerala’s campaign trail.