That Delhi was meant only as a springboard for the Aam Aadmi Party was clear even before Arvind Kejriwal was sworn in as Chief Minister in 2013 . From the start, the AAP envisaged itself as a nationwide movement against corruption and for good governance. Even as he was talking of Delhi’s problems with water, power and so on, Mr. Kejriwal saw himself as rivalling Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi, fighting corruption and communalism. But those who thought the party’s rout in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls would dispirit its tenacious leader were wrong. True, scaling up from Delhi might not have happened the way he imagined; but instead of setting his sights lower, Mr. Kejriwal merely decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator. The AAP’s bid for power in Punjab is more an extension of its plan of action in Delhi, and not akin to the flight of fancy Mr. Kejriwal indulged in while contesting from Varanasi against Mr. Modi. A shot of realism was what the AAP needed, and it came in the form of the results of the 2014 Lok Sabha election when it did poorly outside Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh. The party won all its four seats from Punjab; the decision to focus on these core support areas, instead of spreading itself thin, thus made sense.
Its proximity to Delhi was not the only reason the AAP found a resonance in Punjab. The AAP could position itself as an alternative to both the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress; it took the focus away from the identity politics of SAD, but spoke up for the Sikh victims of the 1984 riots in Delhi under Congress watch. The agrarian crisis, the drug mafia, jobs and development issues are in the forefront of the AAP’s campaign. But the party has been handicapped by its failure to groom a regional leader in Punjab. Mr. Kejriwal’s autocratic style of functioning appears to have put off many in his party, as it did Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former BJP MP who at one point seemed inclined to join forces with the AAP. While Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia asked voters at an election rally to vote as if Mr. Kejriwal were the chief ministerial candidate, Mr. Kejriwal himself has been wary of projecting himself thus. The AAP would have liked to showcase its two years in government in Delhi as a model, but the frequent run-ins with the Lt. Governor over powers and jurisdiction did not present a pretty picture. And while Punjab might be important for the AAP’s national goals, voters are unlikely to look beyond their immediate life and livelihood concerns in making their choice. The AAP needs Punjab more than Punjab needs the AAP.
