Cadre ‘dispirited’, revival tall order for Punjab AAP

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25

Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s June 30 announcement promising 300 units of free power to all families in Punjab if voted to power seems to have been an attempt to rejuvenate party workers, apart from wooing the voter.

With fatigue setting in after the 2017 performance in the Punjab, party’s revival to ensure success in the 2022 Assembly elections is not going to be easy.

Senior AAP leader and Leader of Opposition Harpal Cheema says: “We are not as strong as we were in the 2017 Assembly elections. However, our revival programme has started. Those who joined us for personal gains have left our cavalcade. We are looking for committed party men, like Mamata Banerjee’s TMC in West Bengal, and we are getting some on board.”

A senior AAP leader, who contested the last Vidhan Sabha elections unsuccessfully from Malwa, says: “Unlike the last elections, when our workers surprised the Opposition with their dedication — some even spending from own pocket — the party is now full of members with vested interest. There is a vertical split in the cadre at several places. The party lacks a leader whom we can project as our chief ministerial face.”

Leaders on the ground accept large-scale disenchantment among workers. Sukhraj Singh from Talwandi Sabo says: “I had caught a team of Akalis distributing liquor among voters last time. Kejriwal had personally acknowledged my work on Twitter. That was the level of commitment and appreciation. No one really bothered after the elections and now I am sitting at home.”

Khudian to join AAP today

Muktsar: Gurmeet Singh Khudian, son of former MP Jagdev Singh Khudian, who had quit the Congress on Friday, will join AAP in Chandigarh on Monday. Gurmeet, former president of the District Congress Committee, Muktsar, said he along with supporters would join AAP in the presence of state leadership. Gurmeet had left the Congress saying he was feeling ignored. TNS

No longer actively working for AAP, Kuljit Singh, a former president of the Amritsar (Urban) unit, says: “The present organisation at the booth level doesn’t have leaders or workers who can reach out to people, like they did before.”

However, AAP leader from Patiala Dr Balbir Singh feels Kejriwal’s recent visit has instilled some enthusiasm among party workers here. Party spokesperson Ahbaab Singh Grewal from Ludhiana, who lost the Assembly elections last time, says: “We have limited resources, but we are doing our best to revive the party cadre.”

Sukhdeep S Apra (43), a former general secretary and AAP spokesperson, was a party observer for Amritsar who trained 62 candidates during the 2017 Assembly elections. “The state AAP leadership is being controlled by two or three persons from Delhi. I have seen some hand-picked activists being reprimanded by the Delhi leadership for no reason,” he says.

Another worker says: “It is sad that our party did not wake up when dedicated leaders like Dr Dharamvir Gandhi from Patiala left. One of the founding party leaders in the state, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, was also given an unceremonious exit. Several other leaders have left. It is unfortunate for the state unit as the central leadership has been controlling its activities through a remote control.”

However, Raghav Chadha, co-in charge of Punjab affairs, says the party is receiving a good response at the ground level during its recent outreach programmes. State president Bhagwant Mann could not be contacted for comment.

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