CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will not repeat the ‘mistake’ that it made in 2017 of not announcing its Chief Minister’s candidate in the 2022 Punjab assembly polls. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that the party’s chief ministerial face for the upcoming elections will be from the Sikh community.
Kejriwal on Monday said discussions were on within the party for choosing the best candidate, adding that the name of the candidate will be revealed at the right time.“We will have a Sikh face as our CM candidate as this is the only state which has a Sikh CM and we will ensure that even our CM face is from the community,” he said. Kejriwal added that he could say for sure that the entire Punjab would be proud of their choice.
Launching Aam Aadmi Party’s campaign for the 2022 polls, Kejriwal urged people of Punjab to give the ‘Delhi Model of Governance’ a chance. Kejriwal promised that if his party was given a chance, he will change the direction of the state. “The people of Punjab want a change. Now they have an option. Give one chance to the Aam Aadmi Party, we will change the condition and direction of politics of Punjab,” he said,
Kejriwal also welcomed former Punjab cadre IPS officer and former IGP Kunwar Vijay Pratap into AAP. Pratap recently took voluntary retirement from service. Kejriwal said like him, Kunwar too did not belong to any political family. “We only know how to serve people with dedication,” he said.
When asked if the former minister and Congress MLA from Amritsar (East) Navjot Singh Sidhu will join AAP, Kejriwal said he respected Sidhu but he is with the Congress, “I believe such loose talks should not be done with respect to Sidhu,” he said.After Delhi, Punjab is the only state where the Aam Aadmi Party has a good presence on the ground. It has been presenting itself as the alternative to the Congress and the SAD, which have ruled the state in the past in turns.