Spectacular Win for AAP in Punjab

AAP sweeps aside stalwarts, shifts ground in Punjab

New Delhi: Eight years after it first emerged as a formidable force in Delhi, AAP has marked a tectonic shift in national politics, winning 92 of 117 seats in Punjab with a vote share of 42.1 percent, up from 20 seats and a vote share of 23.7 percent last time.

And by equaling the Congress tally of two chief ministers, it is now the third political pole in the country at a time when regional leaders are jockeying to emerge as the Opposition’s face for the 2024 general elections.

On Thursday, the massive margins by which some of AAP’s candidates won — over 50,000 votes in nine seats — signaled that Punjab’s voters had overwhelmingly decided to opt for change.

It also showed AAP’s line of “Ik mauka Kejriwal nu, ik mauka Bhagwant Mann nu” (one chance for Kejriwal, one chance for Bhagwant Mann) had found resonance with voters disenchanted with the traditional two-party politics of Congress and SAD.

“Pehle Dilli mein inquilab hua, phir Punjab mein inquilab hua, ab yeh inquilab poore desh ke andar phailega (The revolution came to Delhi first, then Punjab, now it will spread to the entire country),” Arvind Kejriwal, AAP’s national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister, said.

Referring to allegations leveled against him during the campaign, Kejriwal said: “Everybody came together against AAP and said Kejriwal is a terrorist. The people of the country have said that Kejriwal is not a terrorist, he is the real deshbhakt (patriot).”

He said: “Bhagat Singh had said once that after getting Independence if we don’t change the system, nothing will happen. In the past 75 years, these parties and politicians have kept the system of the British. They didn’t make any schools or hospitals. The AAP has changed the system in the past seven years.”

Established on November 26, 2012, AAP first tasted success in Punjab by winning four seats with a 24.4 percent vote share in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. In 2015, it returned to power in Delhi, decimating the Congress and the BJP and triggering hopes of replicating its success in Punjab which was headed to polls in two years.

Image courtesy of (Image Courtesy: The Economic Times)

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