What jeopardised things for AAP in Punjab 2 years after landslide victory
Chandigarh, June 5
It was a humiliating defeat to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab two years after its landslide victory, its Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and party’s national convener, Arvind Kejriwal, set an ambitious target of winning all 13 Lok Sabha seats on Tuesday and won just three seats, with four of five cabinet ministers failing to secure victories.
The only saving grace for AAP was the win from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s bastion Sangrur this time.
Except for minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer (Sangrur), all four ministers — Health Minister Balbir Singh (Patiala), Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian (Bathinda), NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal (Amritsar), and Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar from Khadoor Sahib — lost the elections. Also, its three legislators lost the parliamentary poll.
Political observers say that the party was banking heavily on its populist schemes, like the free power of 300 units a month to each household, free Aam Aadmi mohalla clinics, 43,000 government jobs, the repair of canals and the establishment of schools of eminence.
The Congress won seven of the total 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab, dealing a blow to AAP, the BJP and SAD, though two Independents, including jailed radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, made a surprise entry into the Parliament.
The Sukhbir Singh Badal-led SAD could win only one seat, and the BJP failed to open an account in the state. With PTI and IANS inputs
