AAP on test in Punjab

The 2022 Assembly poll outcome in Punjab will go down in the annals of state elections as a stunner. The landslide mandate given to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) however was not altogether unexpected. Given the chaotic state of the ruling Congress and the comedy being played out between a timid Chief Minister and a irrepressible Party Chief, people were less likely to be fooled into giving it another chance.

It is evident from the electoral tally that AAP tapped into the popular anger effectively. Congress was outclassed by it by a huge margin. The Dalit card played by the Congress was of no avail. It was hardly surprising that the CM candidate it projected, became the object of barbs by an unbridled Party Chief.

While the Congress could retain only 20 of the 77 seats it had won in 2017, AAP’s number rose from 20 to 92, rather unusual in Punjab which has been witness to razor finish fights. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP could just about register their presence.

The AAP is a newcomer to the seat of power in Punjab. Not only did it score a first in declaring its CM candidate, it chose a man with a squeaky clean image. He lives in a rented house and his assets have shown consistent decline over the nine years he has been a Member of the Lok Sabha. Kejriwal had sensed the popular disenchantment during electioneering in 2019 itself. Despite being in power for a full term, the Congress Government had soft-pedaled on charges of corruption against the previous Akali Dal government led by the Badals whose assets had zoomed to over Rs. 4,000 crore. High power tariff, all-pervasive corruption, poor educational and healthcare facilities were moved to the top of the party’s agenda. The party promised 16,000 ‘mohalla clinics’ and ‘Pind clinics’ for every village and urban ward, a Health Card for all, free power supply to all households across the state. Successful implementation of some of these promises in the Union Territory of Delhi during the last nine years, had made it a workable welfare model. For a people who saw the Congress and the SAD as two sides of the same coin, these pledges did raise hope of efficient governance for a State recovering from a yearlong farmers’ agitation.

The groundswell of support, especially from the youth and women, has landed the AAP in the power saddle. However, doubts are being expressed if the people are not too optimistic over the populist pledges being made in a debt-ridden state whose coffers are empty. It remains to be seen if the Delhi model of welfare schemes can be made applicable to another state and how far the AAP lives up to the expectations of the people.