CHANDIGARH: Thanks to Arvind Kejriwal’s unexpected apology to former Akali Dal minister Bikram Singh Majithia, the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab appears to be in the throes of death. From a rookie party that soared in Punjab’s political firmament, winning four Lok Sabha seats when the Modi juggernaut was on a roll in 2014 and subsequently becoming the state’s main opposition party, the AAP is now convulsing.
Eighteen of its 20 MLAs, appalled that Kejriwal has apologized to the man who once the prime target of the AAP’s campaign against the drug mafia, have openly said they want to move out and form an independent Punjab-centric party.
The move has been put on hold for now for want of consensus, but the threat to the AAP is not over. The 21-member state core committee of the party has been dissolved after the resignations of its Punjab president and Sangrur MP, Bhagwant Mann, and co-president Aman Arora. Most important, Kejriwal’s credibility has come under a cloud.
Before last year’s Assembly elections, the AAP graph in Punjab was at such a high that it claimed it would win 100 of 117 seats and form government. But it won only 20 seats, and had to be content being the main opposition party. Its graph has steadily declined in the past year and its connect with the people appears to have snapped. Its candidate, Suresh Khajooria came a distant third in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha byelection.
In the civic polls in four big cities — Amritsar, Patiala, Jalandhar and Ludhiana — the AAP could win only two wards.
The Congress won all four municipal corporations, followed by the SAD-BJP alliance. With the AAP fast losing ground, the Akali Dal is claiming back the space it lost as opposition. The ruling Congress has been very active on the ground with its ‘pol-khol’ rallies since it completed one year in power. But the AAP has hardly any political activity to show.
AAP legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira said, “Unfortunately, Kerjiwal has lost a golden opportunity to spread his wings throughout the country due to his parochial and narrow approach.”
“In best interest of Pb, my suggestion to Pb AAP MLAs -- demand autonomy, not a separate party. AAP Punjab should function as a regional party with an alliance with national http://AAP. In Punjab matters, total independence & on national issues, go by national leadership (Sic),” senior AAP leader H S Phoolka tweeted,
“The AAP is a victim of its own high moral standards set during its formative years. They (AAP leaders) have failed miserably in living up to their reputation, therefore their failure to come to the expectations of the people is proving to be the key factor for their downfall,” said political analyst Kuldeep Singh of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
“They failed on all fronts — fight against corruption, internal democracy… They could not exploit the weakness and shortcomings of other parties. At this juncture, there is no sign of their revival,” said political analyst Kuldeep Singh of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.”