AAP’s strategy for Punjab polls runs into rough weather

Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 11

The strategy of Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) regarding the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab has run into rough weather with the ruling Congress elevating Charanjit Singh Channi, a Scheduled Caste (SC) member from Sikh community, as chief minister of the state.

The central leadership of the AAP is tipped to convene a strategic meeting of key leaders concerning Punjab soon to assess the emerging ground realities in the state.

The party is keenly watching how the Congress politics in the state, which is factious, settles down and how Channi scores himself through the choppy waters created by Navjot Singh Sidhu.

“We are also following the moves of former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and the BJP,” a senior AAP leader, who did not wish to be identified, said.

The AAP, which had been presenting itself as a serious contender to form a government in Punjab, appears to be on the back foot now and diffident, with its support base of SCs and BCs likely to get adversely affected with Singh heading the Congress poll campaign.

The AAP leaders, however, are keeping a brave face in public, saying that the Congress tactics of changing chief minister without fulfilling its promises during the last assembly elections would not stick.

The party’s meteoric rise in Punjab politics is considered to be on account of fulsome support to it from SCs, BCs, OBCs, and also from sections in the Jat Sikhs and others who were disenchanted with the traditional Congress and Akali politics.

The apprehension in AAP circles is that with the Scheduled Castes comprising more than 31 per cent (some estimates put it to more than 34 per cent) of the state’s population, Channi could enable the Congress to have a jump on its rival parties in the assembly elections. This momentum could also suck in BCs and OBCs in the Congress caravan.

Channi is said to have a clean and humble image. He has not deported himself without earning debit during his short stint which has prevented AAP and other opponent parties of Congress to criticise him.

In the given scenario, if AAP criticises him, it could be resented by SCs.

With SAD-BSP alliance having declared to make Dalit as deputy chief minister, and BJP also pitching for Dalits for political empowerment, the AAP’s earlier strategies have been further challenged.

A section in the AAP feels that if the party now projects a Dalit, it would be seen as a proverbial late farmer, and a copycat, besides danger of losing street cred with the Jat Sikhs. Hence, the central leadership finds itself between the rock and the hard place.

Meanwhile, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told a private TV channel late yesterday evening that the name of his party’s chief ministerial candidate for Punjab will be declared before the assembly polls.

He said the people of Punjab have shown affinity for AAP.

“They are angry with Akali leaders. The ruling Congress have betrayed the trust of people and are busy fighting like cats and dogs,” Kejriwal said.