Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 11: Amidst apprehensions after the debacle in Delhi elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has dismissed all speculations about leadership change Punjab, the only state the party is now in power.
Speculations became rife after the AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal convened a meeting of all AAP MLAs, MPs and other top leaders of the party in Delhi on Tuesday. Several leaders speculated that now that Mr Kejriwal would be bereft of any power after the party’s defeat in the Delhi elections, he might hoist himself in place of the Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann.
In response to Mr Kejriwal’s summoning, over 90 MLAs of the AAP in Punjab, including chief minister Mr Mann, and the party’s 13 MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha drove down to Kapurthala House in Delhi on Tuesday to meet Mr Kejriwal. Senior leaders, including the former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Punjab MPs Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak, were among those who attended the meeting which lasted for just about 25 minutes.
After the meeting Mr Mann spoke to the media and laughed off a question on whether he may be replaced in the top post in the aftermath of AAP’s Delhi debacle and Mr Kejriwal’s defeat in his seat. Mr Mann said during the meeting Mr Kejriwal thanked all Punjab Ministers and MLAs for campaigning in the Delhi Assembly polls.
Both Mr Mann and other AAP leaders in Punjab rubbished the Congress claim of dissent within the AAP ranks in Punjab, particularly after the party’s rout in Delhi. The Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa had recently claimed that over 30 AAP MLAs were in touch with the Congress and could switch sides. Mr Bajwa claimed these MLAs have realised that staying with AAP may not be politically beneficial in the long run.
Hitting out at claims of the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, CM Mann said, “Bajwa has been saying this. He should not count our MLAs and instead see how many MLAs Congress has in Delhi.” Mr Mann asserted that the AAP leaders were a “dedicated lot with no greed.”
“He (Bajwa) has been making claims earlier also that 20 MLAs or 40 MLAs are in touch with him. Let them say it. We have formed this party with our sweat and blood going among people in the villages and towns in the state,” Mr Mann said. Mr Mann said Punjab would be presented as a model State of development before the country ahead of the next Assembly polls in the State.
Earlier, AAP leaders said the discussions were are focused on reviewing AAP’s performance in the Delhi elections and planning for the Punjab Assembly elections due in 2027. Punjab’s Sangrur MLA Narinder Kaur dismissed reports of internal dissent, calling it a routine meeting. “We accept the people’s mandate in Delhi and will play the role of a strong opposition. Such meetings have happened before, both in Punjab and Delhi,” she said.
Ms Kaur also criticised the Congress for alleging dissent in AAP. “The Congress should reflect on why their party, which ruled for so many years, got zero seats in Delhi. We can manage our party on our own,” she added. AAP, which had governed Delhi for a decade, suffered a major setback in the February 5 elections, winning only 22 seats out of 70 in the Assembly elections. The BJP’s victory ended AAP’s rule in the capital, raising concerns over the party’s future.
There are also speculations that Mr Kejriwal may play a bigger role in Punjab politics, with discussions about him contesting from the vacant Ludhiana Assembly seat. However, AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang downplayed such reports, calling the meeting a “routine strategy session.”
A senior BJP leader had claimed that Mr Kejriwal was trying to replace Mr Mann as Chief Minister. Manjinder Singh Sirsa, newly elected MLA from Rajouri Garden, claimed in a video that the AAP national convener was trying to remove Mr Mann by branding him “incompetent”.
“After losing the Delhi elections, Arvind Kejriwal has called a meeting of Punjab MLAs in Delhi. Reports suggest that he is trying to remove @BhagwantMann Ji from the CM post by branding him as incompetent. He failed to fulfill his promise of giving Rs 1,000 to women, was unsuccessful in curbing drug abuse and has worsened Punjab’s situation. Now, he wants to put all failure on Bhagwant Mann. He is making AAP Punjab MLAs say that Kejriwal is a ‘good man’ and should be made Chief Minister instead,” he said.
When Mr Mann was asked about this claim, he smiled and said, “Let them say.” He also assured that the Punjab government would fulfill its promise of giving Rs 1,000 every month to women. The AAP has 93 MLAs and the Congress 16 in the 117-member Punjab Assembly.
Mr Mann also spoke about what was discussed in today’s meeting. He said Mr Kejriwal thanked AAP workers for grassroots work in the party’s Delhi campaign. He said AAP worked a lot in Delhi but wins and losses are part of politics. “We accept the people’s mandate in Delhi, now we plan to make Punjab a model state,” he said. Mr Mann said all the MLAs wanted to meet Mr Kejriwal, so they came to Delhi for the meeting.
Asked about what transpired at the meeting, the Ludhiana Central MLA Ashok Prashar said, “In the meeting, Mr Kejriwal told us we must take the party forward in Punjab. There will be no change in Punjab,” he said. Asked about the Congress’s claim about AAP MLAs, he said, “The Congress must take care, what if the few they have come to us.”
Speculations about Mr Kejriwal replacing Mr Mann had triggered off over his political future as the AAP chief is neither the chief minister, nor an MP, or an MLA. Punjab is the only state where the AAP is in power and has a tenure till 2027.
Among the options considered for Mr Kejriwal was that he can now enter the Rajya Sabha from Punjab. The party has 10 Rajya Sabha MPs, seven from Punjab and three from Delhi. AAP will need to make one of them resign for Kejriwal’s entry. However, AAP cannot win back the Rajya Sabha seat if a Delhi Rajya Sabha MP resigns, since it no longer has the numbers in Delhi. But it does have 93 MLAs and three MPs in Punjab and can easily regain a seat from there. AAP’s national general secretary, Sandeep Pathak, is a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab and may make way for Kejriwal’s entry. He has a tenure till 2028, so it will give time to Kejriwal to focus on a Delhi election in 2029-30 post his tenure ending in 2028. This will also give Kejriwal a chance to rub shoulders with senior politicians in the Upper House of Parliament.
To take over as Punjab CM from Mr Mann, there is an assembly bypoll due in the Ludhiana West seat after an AAP MLA from there passed away last month. Mr Kejriwal can contest from this seat to enter the Punjab assembly and replace Mann as the CM. However, senior AAP leaders and MPs like Malvinder Singh Kang and Gurmeet Singh said nothing of this sort is going to happen and these are pure speculations in media.
Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa believe that Mr Kejriwal cannot remain without power and he would either try becoming Punjab CM or a Rajya Sabha MP from the state. “However, Punjab does not accept outsiders,” Randhawa said. He said there will be a mid-term election in Punjab if Kejriwal becomes the chief minister.
Another option for Kejriwal is to focus purely on his party and continue in his existing position as national convener. Some AAP leaders said this was the best option as the party needed guidance and leadership like never before and work on the organisation and the grassroots. Given that the party still has a 43 per cent vote share in Delhi, it would not be politically prudent for Mr Kejriwal to turn towards Punjab. A senior AAP leader said Mr Kejriwal’s legal troubles could also be a hurdle in other roles.
