After fall in Delhi, ought to Kejriwal be apprehensive about Punjab? | India Information

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal (PTI photograph)

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Get together‘s (AAP) loss within the Delhi meeting elections has sparked hypothesis about its political clout in Punjab, with opposition leaders within the state predicting an analogous downfall.
The Bharatiya Janata Get together (BJP) secured a decisive victory in Delhi, reclaiming energy after 26 years and dealing a extreme blow to Arvind Kejriwal‘s AAP, whose senior management struggled to carry floor.
This marks the second main setback for AAP following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, during which the get together secured solely three of the 13 parliamentary seats in Punjab.

In distinction, AAP had secured a sweeping victory within the 2022 Punjab meeting elections, successful 92 out of 117 seats.
Earlier than the Delhi polls, Punjab’s AAP unit, together with chief minister Bhagwant Mann, cupboard ministers, MPs, and MLAs, actively campaigned within the nationwide capital.
Mann, because the get together’s key campaigner, performed roadshows and highlighted the achievements of his authorities, resembling offering 50,000 authorities jobs, providing 300 items of free electrical energy, organising 850 ‘mohalla clinics,’ and buying a non-public thermal energy plant.
With AAP now governing solely Punjab, opposition events within the state strongly criticised the get together, asserting that the Delhi citizens has uncovered its “lies and deceit”.
“It’s a defeat of Arvind Kejriwal’s lies, deceit and dishonesty. Folks of Delhi as we speak confirmed that you just can not rule the state for lengthy by making false guarantees,” Punjab BJP basic secretary Subhash Sharma informed information company PTI.
He additional claimed that AAP’s governance had left Delhi in a “depressing” situation and warned that Punjab’s AAP leaders would face a fair worse destiny.
Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa predicted inner strife inside AAP’s Punjab unit, claiming, “There could be an inner energy battle between Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal.”
He blamed the Delhi defeat on corruption, inefficiency, and vanity inside AAP’s management.
BJP chief Preneet Kaur expressed satisfaction over her get together’s victory, including that AAP’s much-touted “Delhi mannequin” did not ship on its guarantees.
“We now have seen that their “Aam Aadmi clinics” didn’t work right here. What they’d promised, they didn’t maintain them,” she mentioned.
Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira described the result as a setback for “faux revolutionaries” who had did not uphold their commitments on points like VIP tradition, Lokpal, Swaraj, and corruption.
Punjab BJP vice chairman and former MLA Arvind Khanna referred to as the Delhi mandate a rejection of AAP’s governance mannequin, arguing that it signalled “the start of AAP’s downfall in Punjab as nicely”.
He emphasised that below Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s management, India had skilled important progress, making it essential for Punjab to embrace BJP for actual growth.
Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu echoed comparable sentiments on X, posting, “Historical past rewritten in Delhi! After 27 years, the folks have given BJP a convincing mandate, embracing PM @narendramodi’s imaginative and prescient of Viksit Bharat. This victory is a testomony to belief, growth, and a brighter future. Thanks, Delhi.”
He additional accused AAP of harbouring “probably the most corrupt leaders” and urged that the get together’s downfall in Punjab was imminent.
With AAP dealing with a important juncture, its future in Punjab stays unsure as political opponents ramp up their assaults, sensing a possibility to weaken the get together’s maintain on the state.