Capital drubbing has Punjab AAP govt on the edge

Opposition parties in Punjab are already gunning for the state Aam Aadmi Party government following the rout in Delhi with Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu leading the charge, asking Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann “to start packing his bags”.

The party’s freebie-based governance model has clearly failed to enthuse voters for a third time with some of its top faces, including supremo Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, biting the dust.

CM Mann meets Kejriwal

• Punjab CM Mann met AAP supremo Kejriwal on Saturday after the results were announced; Speaker Sandhwan and some ministers and MLAs were also in Delhi
• In Punjab, the next battle for AAP will be the bypoll for the Ludhiana West constituency, necessitated after the death of sitting MLA Gurpreet Singh Gogi

A similar model has been replicated in Punjab. In the national capital, the party had been found wanting in addressing the basic issues of governance, including “bijli, pani, sadak and safai”.

Elections in Punjab still two years away, the state unit has its task cut out — to improve governance and deliver on its promises. The Punjab AAP has so far delivered on 300 units of free power, bought a private thermal plant and given 52,000 jobs to the youth.

However, its reliance on subsidies — free power to domestic consumers started by AAP — has milked the state coffers dry, as has the free power to agriculture consumers (started by the then SAD-BJP government in 2007) and the free bus travel for women (started by the Congress).

So far, a majority of the revenue receipts in Punjab are going only towards these subsidies and meeting the committed expenditure on salaries, pensions and interest on the burgeoning public debt.

The party has also floundered on ensuring law and order, including cutting the illicit drug supply lines; attracting industrial investment; building infrastructure; and ensuring a corruption-free administration.

State BJP leader Subhash Sharma has attacked the ruling AAP, saying: “Their lies in Punjab too stand exposed. Their downhill journey starts today.”

The defeat of AAP in Delhi may actually augur well for Punjab, even if not for its leaders here. With the freebie-based model failing to woo voters in Delhi, the party is expected to pivot towards immediate course correction in Punjab — the only state it now has in its kitty.

Even before the Delhi results were declared, senior leaders in Punjab had hinted that a blueprint for improving policing, cracking down on drug suppliers, attracting industrial investment and improving rural infrastructure was ready and programmes around these would be rolled out by mid-February.

However, the poll results have sent the alarm bells ringing for the state AAP. The poll loss in Delhi means the party leaders here will now be under higher scrutiny by the high command, and ministers will have to deliver. The lackadaisical approach will no longer do.

Also, the nervousness stems from the fact that a resurgent BJP may push for the implementation of central policies and schemes and ensure better utilisation of central funds meant for foodgrain procurement, National Health Mission, etc. With many AAP leaders blaming the BJP-led Centre for “financially squeezing opposition-ruled states”, they are wary of facing a fund crunch if they fail to toe the line. Further, the murmurs of the BJP “inspiring a rebellion” in the state unit of AAP will keep the party top brass on tenterhooks.