Following AAP’s crushing defeat in the Delhi assembly elections, speculation is rife about possible changes within the party’s Punjab leadership.
Both the BJP and Congress claim that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is under pressure after AAP’s electoral debacle in the national capital.
Union Minister and BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu took a swipe at Mann after he, along with 91 AAP MLAs from Punjab, met party chief Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi.
Bittu suggested that the meeting hinted at a leadership change, noting how Mann, who usually appeared alone before the media, was now surrounded by his ministers. According to Bittu, this shift in optics signals internal party developments.
BJP’s newly-elected MLA from West Delhi’s Rajouri Garden, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, also mocked Kejriwal for holding discussions with Punjab MLAs despite his party’s loss in Delhi.
He accused Kejriwal of being power-hungry, claiming he was now eyeing Punjab’s chief ministerial post. Sirsa added that the people of Punjab would not tolerate arrogance and advised Kejriwal to abandon such ambitions.
The Congress also criticized Kejriwal’s meeting with Punjab legislators, raising questions about its timing. Congress MP Gurjit Singh Aujla pointed out that rather than discussing Delhi’s defeat with local leaders, Kejriwal had summoned Punjab MLAs, which he saw as an indication of possible changes within the state government.
Aujla asserted that both AAP’s Delhi and Punjab governance models had failed and that public dissatisfaction was growing.
Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa went a step further, suggesting that AAP was on the verge of collapsing in Punjab. He argued that calling a meeting so soon after an electoral defeat signaled instability, predicting that Punjab could face mid-term elections.
Randhawa stated that typically, parties analyze election setbacks within the affected state rather than involving leaders from other regions, further fueling speculation of internal rifts within AAP.
Responding to these claims, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann rejected allegations of dissent within AAP’s state unit. He dismissed Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa’s claim that over 30 AAP MLAs were in contact with Congress, arguing that party-hopping was a longstanding Congress practice, not AAP’s.
Mann challenged Bajwa to focus on his own party’s declining strength rather than making baseless claims about AAP.
With AAP now only in power in Punjab after ruling Delhi for a decade, questions linger about its political stability. The party lost 40 seats in the February 5 elections, reducing its tally to 22, while the BJP secured 48 seats to form the new Delhi government.
With Punjab’s next assembly elections scheduled for 2027, AAP faces a tough road ahead.
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