NEW DELHI: The Assembly election results have brought regional parties to the centre stage. AAP’s landslide victory in Punjab has put regional players into dominant position ahead of the next general election in 2024. Efforts are already underway to put together a united opposition front with TRS leader
K Chandrasekhar Rao and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee holding talks with other regional parties.
AAP’s landslide victory in Punjab is set to change the opposition dynamics and the party is expected to play a pivotal role in opposition politics even as the space for the Congress shrinking across the country. The AAP has been expanding at the expense of Congress in majority of states, including Goa where it won 2 seats.
In the election-bound states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the AAP is expected to dent the Congress vote bank as it has already made inroads in these states. Similarly, the TMC has filled the space left by the Congress in West Bengal and Tripura.
With Punjab now in the hands of AAP — the only regional party to rule two states — party leader Arvind Kejriwal will get the image of a national leader. Riding high on their landslide victory in Punjab, AAP leaders have announced that the party will emerge as a national alternative and replace the Congress.
Regional players like Trinamool, Telangana Rashtra Samiti and NCP have questioned the grand old party’s ability to take on the BJP and that it will be regional players who can put up a fight against the BJP. Poll strategist Prashant Kishor has also been working to bring together non-Congress like-minded parties on a platform ahead of 2024.
Reacting to AAP’s win, NCP chief Sharad Pawar emphasised on the need to initiate a process to give an effective alternative to the BJP and that all the like-minded parties shall sit together during the month-long Parliament session starting March 14 to discuss the future course of action.