Newsmaker | ‘Thank u Sunita’: Enter Mrs Kejriwal

“Thank u Sunita for always being there,” Arvind Kejriwal tweeted on the afternoon of February 10, 2015, soon after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accomplished the feat of securing 67 of the 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly elections.

It was the first formal introduction to the world of Sunita Kejriwal, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, two years her husband’s senior, who had remained in the shadows as he charted his way from bureaucracy to activism to politics. Kejriwal would later have Sunita by his side as he delivered his victory address, calling her his pillar of strength.

Nine years on from that afternoon, with Kejriwal in Enforcement Directorate custody in the Delhi excise policy case, Sunita, 58, is now being talked about as her husband’s sole possible replacement — both within the AAP as well as in Delhi’s power corridors – if and when the need arises.

Since Kejriwal’s arrest, Sunita has addressed the public twice in video messages shared by the party, while seated in a chair flanked by the Tricolour and portraits of Bhagat Singh and B R Ambedkar — quite like the Delhi CM — the second one released on Wednesday.

Thank u Sunita for always being there “<a href=«https://twitter.com/rsaraf007?ref_src=» https: class="" rel=«nofollow, noopener» target="_blank">@rsaraf007

: Sunita Kejriwal and <a href=«https://twitter.com/ArvindKejriwal?ref_src=» https: class="" rel=«nofollow, noopener» target="_blank">@ArvindKejriwal first pics after winning pic.twitter.com/eDLxfxKMbd“

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) <a href=«https://twitter.com/ArvindKejriwal/status/565046012574580736?ref_src=» https: class="" rel=«nofollow, noopener» target="_blank">February 10, 2015

In her addresses, in Hindi, she has conveyed Kejriwal’s “message” of