AAP tries to put its act together in Punjab, but long road ahead

Party asks its leaders not to air differences in public to give a semblance of unity ahead of the state polls early next year

CHANDIGARH: On this day exactly five years ago, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was on a roll. Its political show at the historic Maghi Mela in Muktsar had eclipsed the parallel rallies of established parties, the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), signalling the emergence of a third player in the state.

Though it failed to meet heady expectations in the assembly elections a year later, the party did well to become the principal opposition in the state with 20 of the 117 seats, only to be thrown into disarray by competing ambitions of its leaders within months.

Amid the farmers’ protests against the agriculture laws, the bedraggled AAP has now started to get its act together after being down in the dumps for nearly two years that saw several of its MLAs and MPs turn rebels and a poor showing in parliamentary polls. The party has amped up its rhetoric, started overhaul of the organisational set-up and told its leaders not to air their differences in public to give a semblance of unity ahead of the state polls early next year.

Grassroots set-up revamp

The state leadership, in consultation with the central leaders, is revamping its organisational structure, from village and wards to districts, to re-energise the party. In every assembly constituency, four block level committees have been set up which, in turn, have circle committees – each with five villages or wards under them. “We are in process of setting up 11-member committees in 16,000 villages and wards. These will be finalised in the next two-three weeks. Being a new party, we were hampered by the lack of a strong organisational structure on the ground in 2017. We have learnt the lesson and are devoting our energies to it this time,” said party legislator and leader of opposition (LoP) Harpal Singh Cheema.

The party has also opened its doors to disgruntled leaders and two of its rebel MLAs, Amarjit Sandoa and Jagtar Singh Jagga, have returned to the party fold last month. Also, the possibility of alliance with the breakaway factions of the SAD and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in coming months is being strongly considered.

Farmers’ stir an opportunity

The farmers’ stir against the Centre’s three farm laws, particularly the 50-day-long dharna at Delhi’s doorstep, is being seen as an opportunity for the party desperate to regain the lost ground. AAP’s convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who rarely visited Punjab in the past two years, was quick in extending support to them.

“We are only showing our solidarity with farmers and giving all the support, and not doing politics,” said a party leader.

Kejriwal, newly appointed Punjab co-incharge and national spokesperson Raghav Chadha and state unit president Bhagwant Mann’s innuendo-laden attacks on chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and his family have riled up the ruling party. The chief minister’s stinging ripostes and parliamentary affairs Brahm Mohindra’s attack on the AAP for targeting the Congress and sparing the SAD are proof.

That the Akalis, already grappling with cracks in its core Panthic support base, are at the receiving end of farmers’ ire as they were a constituent of the NDA when the farm laws were approved, is being seen by the AAP as another plus. Prof Ashutosh Kumar, professor of political science, Panjab University, said the political was in a state of flux at present and no party was gaining anything.

“But if standoff persists and farmers have to return emptyhanded, it could be a turning point for AAP which is sparing no effort to woo the farmers,” he said.

Trial by fire

Though the AAP is hopeful of revival of its fortunes, the odds seem stacked against it for now, given its history of infighting and desertions that frittered away the initial goodwill for the party in the state. Also, it needs to announce a chief ministerial face with pan-Punjab sway to liven up the party cadres left disillusioned by a series of electoral setbacks. While Chadha recently announced that the party will announce its CM candidate soon, the state’s political circles have also been swirling with speculation about the AAP wooing former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu. Before that, the party’s immediate test will be the upcoming municipal corporation and committee polls across the state which it has decided to contest on its symbol.

The trial by fire will determine how things are going to pan out for the party in future.