NEW DELHI: Will Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann persist with Arvind Kejriwal‘s “Delhi model” to win a second term or will he explore a “new model” to woo voters? AAP’s humiliating loss in the just concluded Delhi assembly elections has suddenly put a question mark on Kejriwal’s winning strategy which had helped the party rule the national capital for over a decade.
On Tuesday, when Kejriwal huddled with Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and all other Punjab MLAs, the obvious question was: Why meet Punjab MLAs after losing Delhi? Well, answer perhaps lies in the fact that AAP in Punjab has relied heavily on the Delhi model to not just win elections but also govern the state.
“We have replicated Delhi Model in Punjab. We discussed how we can take our model to the grassroots,” AAP Punjab chief Aman Arora said after yesterday’s meeting with Kejriwal.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann also spoke of the party’s dependence on Delhi model. “We are implementing the Delhi model in Punjab as well. Like Mohalla clinics, Aam Aadmi clinics are being built there…. We will make Punjab a model state and present it to the entire country,” Mann said.
Little wonder, Kejriwal was in a huddle with party’s Punjab unit and not its Delhi unit which lost 40 seats in the new assembly raising questions on people’s choice for the Delhi model.
So, for Kejriwal and AAP the biggest question now is why would the people of Punjab accept the Delhi model which has been rejected by the people of Delhi?
The Aam Aadmi Party stormed to power in Punjab in 2022 by winning 92 of the total 117 assembly seats. In the process it decimated the Congress, reducing it to just 18 seats and dislodging it from power. The AAP had then showcased its “Delhi model of development” to Punjab voters, promising them freebies like free electricity, Rs 1,000 per month for women, better health care facilities and improvement in the education sector.
Besides these freebies, the USP of AAP in 2015 was a promise of clean and transparent politics. However, Arvind Kejriwal’s second term was overtaken by controversies and charges of corruption against all the key leaders of the party. Kejriwal and all his top ministers were jailed in the excise policy case and are presently out on bail. Then, there was also 10 years of anti-incumbency against the AAP government.
The road ahead for AAP in Punjab is not going to be easy. The Congress and the BJP have gone all out against the AAP government in the state. While the Congress would want to avenge its humiliating loss in 2022, the BJP is keen to step in and spread its wings in the state. With Akalis already struggling, the BJP would hope that a weakend AAP makes it 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 as assembly elections in the state are still two years away. But the big question is: Will Arvind Kejriwal explore a new model for Punjab or will he still put all his bets on the “failed” Delhi model?