The Aam Aadmi Party swept to power in Punjab largely because the people, fed up with the failure to perform of the two traditional parties which they had been voting to power by turns, were looking for a creditable alternative. They found that in AAP, basis its perceptibly successful governance/developmental model demonstrated in Delhi.
But with the very basis of their choice coming under question following the electorate in the National capital giving a resounding verdict against the party, the AAP government led by Bhagwant Singh Mann, preparing to celebrate three years in power in March, will come under increased public scrutiny for its effectiveness in delivering good governance and focussed development in the state.
There has always been a widespread public perception that Bhagwant Mann does not enjoy a free hand in the running the state government and that party supremo and then Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was pulling his strings in the background.
Now that Kejriwal’s dream of returning to the chief minister’s seat in Delhi with a fresh verdict from the people of the National capital has been shattered, with he himself having narrowly lost his New Delhi seat in the state assembly, speculation is rife that he might want to have an even deeper say in running the affairs of the only state now ruled by the party.
In such an eventuality, Bhagwant Mann’s position might be further compromised in the eyes of the public and the emboldened principal opposition party, the Congress will be encouraged to sharpen its attack on Mann on this issue.
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The party’s loss in Delhi is the second setback for the Mann government in Punjab. Earlier in last year’s national elections, the ruling party grossly underperformed, winning just three of the 13 Lok Sabha seats from the state with the lion’s share (seven) going to the Congress.
That was a poor reflection on the popularity of the party which had stormed to power in the state in 2022 with an overwhelming majority of 92 seats in the 117-member state assembly.
Chief Minister Bhawant Mann, who so far had been accompanying Kejriwal on all his election tours to other states like Gujarat, Goa, and Uttar Pradesh, under a strategy to showcase both states being governed by the party, will now be compelled to spend more time within the state to reassure the people and avoid opposition barbs.
Finding himself under greater pressure, as the opposition Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP sharpen their swords, he might also be contemplating sweeping administrative reshuffles to sharpen focus on governance, development, and shoring up the state’s finances to fulfil the rest of the election promises which remain unfulfilled.
