New Delhi: Will Punjab Prime Minister Punjab, Bhagwant Mann persist, with the “Delhi model” of Arvind Kejriwal to win a second mandate or will explore a “new model” to attract voters? The humiliating loss of AAP in the elections of the newly completed Delhi Assembly has put an interrogation sign on Kejriwal’s winning strategy that had helped the party to govern the national capital for more than a decade.
On Tuesday, when Kejriwal snuggled with Punjab Prime Minister, Bhagwant Mann and all the other MLA of Punjab, the obvious question was: Why meet the Punjab MLA after losing Delhi? Well, the answer perhaps lies in the fact that AAP in Punjab has depended largely on the Delhi model not only to win elections but also govern the State.
“We have replicated Delhi’s model in Punjab. We discuss how we can take our model to the bases,” said Aap Punjab chief, Aman Arora, after yesterday’s meeting with Kejriwal.
Punjab Prime Minister Bhagwant Mann also talked about the dependence of the Delhi model. “We are also implementing Delhi’s model in Punjab. Like the Mohalla clinics, the AAM AADMI clinics are being built there … We make Punjab a model state and we will present it to the whole country,” said Mann.
It is not surprising, Kejriwal was in a group with the Punjab unit of the party and not his Delhi unit that lost 40 seats in the new assembly asking questions about the choice of people for the Delhi model.
So, for Kejriwal and AAP, the most important question is now why the Punjab people would accept the Delhi model that has been rejected by the people of Delhi?
The AAM AADMI party broke into power in Punjab in 2022 by winning 92 of the total of 117 assembly seats. In the process, he decimated Congress, reducing it to only 18 seats and evicting him with power. The AAP had shown its “Delhi development model” to Punjab voters, promising gifts such as free electricity, 1,000 rupees per month for women, better medical care facilities and improvement in the education sector.
In addition to these gifts, AAP USP in 2015 was a clean and transparent policy promise. However, Arvind Kejriwal’s second mandate was surpassed by controversies and corruption charges against all the key party leaders. Kejriwal and all its main ministers were imprisoned in the case of special tax policy and are currently bail. Then, there were also 10 years of anti -incumbency against the AAP government.
The way ahead for AAP in Punjab will not be easy. The Congress and the BJP have gone against the AAP government in the state. While Congress would like to avenge its humiliating loss in 2022, the BJP is eager to intervene and spread its wings in the state. With Akalis that is already fighting, the BJP would expect an AAP weakly to make it the BJP vs Congress contest in the state. And we all know, who has the advantage in such a contest.
Bhagwant Mann has time to make course corrections, since the elections of the assembly in the state are still two years away. But the big question is: Arvind Kejriwal will explore a new model for Punjab or will continue to put all its bets in the “failed” model of Delhi?
