The reverberations of Aam Aadmi Party’s landslide victory in Delhi Assembly polls reached Punjab this morning with party workers launching celebrations in Jalandhar and Ludhiana prompting Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to state that the outcome would not impact the prospects of Punjab politics in any way.
But the importance of the victory of the Aam Aadmi Party was not lost either on its supporters or political leaders who were quick to demand that the party wasted no time in making its presence felt in the State in a big way. Party leader H.S. Phoolka said Punjab would obviously be the next target for the party. He said people were fed up with the corruption and arrogance of both the Congress and the BJP and that had reflected in the results.
Among the places AAP workers celebrated was the office of Mr Phoolka in Ludhiana from where he had fought but lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. But the AAP had made a sterling debut in the State then opening its account in Lok Sabha with the four seats won. It had also polled near 14.54 lakh votes in its maiden outing and had ended up securing 10.55 per cent of the popular vote.
'Delhi mandate not against Modi govt'
With his Shiromani Akali Dal candidates losing all the four seats they contested in the Delhi Assembly elections, Mr Badal said the BJP and Akalis bow before the “fatwa” of the people. But he maintained that the poll result was not a mandate on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s performance. “It has no link to him. Now people have voted them and it is the duty of AAP to perform.”
The Chief Minister said despite the fact that AAP had managed to form a government in Delhi in 2013 as well, everyone knows what happened later. He said AAP’s victory was confined to only to National Capital and subsequently these political developments would not have impending repercussions on Punjab politics.
With all the four SAD (Badal) candidates – Manjinder Singh Sirsa from Rajouri Garden, Harmeet Singh Kalka from Kalkaji, Avtar Singh Hit from Hari Nagar and Jitender Singh Shunty from Shahdara -- losing, Mr. Badal said the party would introspect on what went wrong.
Asked about the prospects of AAP contesting the 2017 Assembly elections in Punjab, Mr Badal gave clear indications that the emergence of the new player may have forced the hands of both BJP and SAD, which were planning to go it alone in the next polls. He said SAD-BJP alliance has always worked for the welfare and overall development of the State and that was why people of Punjab have always supported them.
Meanwhile, AAP MP from Sangrur Bhagwant Mann has indicated that the by-election to the Dhuri Assembly segment, which has been necessitated by the resignation of Congress legislator Arvind Khanna, may be the first next test of AAP in Punjab. The party has already declared that it would not be contesting the upcoming municipal elections in the State.
