India, May 16 -- Arvind Kejriwal's interim bail in the excise policy case couldn't have come at a more opportune time for the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab. The emotions, the euphoria of the 2022 polls (which AAP swept) have dissipated. It'll be a bit of an exaggeration to say that love has flown out of the window - but reality certainly is at the door.

One doesn't have to be a pollster to know the fight in most of the 13 Lok Sabha seats is between the Congress and the AAP led by CM Bhagwant Mann. In that limited sense, the lineup is similar to that in Kerala. No matter which side is victorious, the seats eventually will be in the INDIA grouping's kitty.

But Kejriwal's arrival on the scene could well be a crowd-pulling cameo, the much-neede...