How Kejriwal lost AAP’s winning plot in the state

AAP WAS TIPPED TO UPSTAGE THE RULING AKALIBJP ALLIANCE, BUT VOTERS DECIDED OTHERWISE

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appears to have lost a winning battle in Punjab, and the reasons are not difficult to assess. The party, which made its Punjab assembly polls debut, came in second, but the number 2 position will make it a formidable opposition in the state assembly.

Punjab was the only state in the country from where AAP had won four Lok Sabha seats, taking a 24.4% vote share. It was tipped to upstage the ruling Akali-BJP alliance and relegate the Congress to the runner-up spot in the assembly polls two-and-a-half years later. However, Saturday’s results didn’t back this view. Prominent leaders such as comedian-turned-politician Bhagwant Mann and Himmat Singh Shergill lost.

The loss could be attributed to the AAP losing touch with the urban Hindu and moderate Sikh voter when a perception grew that it was hobnobbing with Sikh hardliners. Kejriwal even chose to stay in the house of a former militant during the last leg of his campaign.

The party’s inability to project a credible Jat Sikh face as its CM candidate also hit its fortunes. Rival parties suggested that Kejriwal, a Haryanvi Hindu, was himself vying for the post.

Top contenders such as Mann and Harinder Singh Phoolka too campaigned with uncertainty. Kejriwal’s inability to pull in popular cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu also had an impact. Mann himself remained embroiled in controversies after he live-streamed his trip to the Parliament on social media.

The fault lines in the party’s organisational structure too came to the fore with the first signs of dissent. There was a trust deficit between local AAP leaders and the high command in New Delhi, leading to an “outsiderversus-insider” rhetoric.

Starting with throwing out its state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur in August, AAP went on a downward spiral with minimutinies erupting continuously almost till the elections.

Allegations of corruption and sale of tickets made openly in press conferences by AAP members also hit the party’s honest image. Their campaign’s tone and tenor too focussed almost entirely on underscoring that Punjab is in a mess and in the grip of “goonda raj” under the SADBJP alliance. For larger issues such as the dispute on sharing river water with neighbours such as Haryana, the AAP all but managed to offer a wavering stand.

Lastly, the party’s campaign peaked early. Kejriwal blew the poll bugle last January at the maghi mela rally, followed by a door-to-door parivar jodo campaign. The novelty of its message wore out by the time elections were called a year later.