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- Published: March 16, 2022 19:32
The resounding victory of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab elections is a gamerchanger development not just for the party but also for its Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
AAP’s 1st government in Punjab, the first outside Delhi, augurs well for propulsion of party at the national level and therefore, newly elected CM Bhagwant Mann will have a crucial role in cementing the party’s base & political clout.
Bhagwant Mann, a comedian turned politician, has seen a phenomenal rise in his political career in about last 10 years, almost corresponding with the time when AAP took birth out of crusade against corruption.
On Wednesday, Bhagwant took oath of office at the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in Punjab’s Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district. Mann-led AAP got a historic mandate in Punjab and the scale of celebrations & victory marches reflected in exulting members of party.
His swearing in saw huge mobilisation of people & splurge of public resources and therefore much will depend on his report card of next few months. Mann’s governance will have a strong bearing on AAP’s national ambitions as the party looks to expand its footprint across the country.
Other than AAP, all parties have been discarded & routed badly. And, the former is making no effort in exchanging niceties & pleasantries with rivals and rather pitching for developmental work from Day 1. It didn’t extend invite to Charnjit Singh Channi but it did made overtures of Cong’s Group 23 leader Manish Tewari, as revealed by the latter.
‘Clean governance, no petty politics and no taunting the opponents’ is the clear message given by AAP leadership, soon after taking over reins of the state. Time will tell whether AAP govt lives up to the promises that it made during the course of campaign.
Soon after AAP emerged victorious, the party struck a blow to the privileged political class by scrapping the VIP security availed by them. Such anti-establishment move go a long way in winning applause from the public. Political rivals have accused CM Mann of playing to the gallery even before taking oath of office. But, there are serious issues ailing the state like drug & liquor menace and a sacrilege cases awaiting closure.
Bhagwant Mann led Punjab government is likely to borrow heavily from Delhi model of free electricity & water under social welfare policies. But, a state like Punjab doesn’t have enough financial muscle & abundance like the national capital. Moreover, how Mann delivers on party’s promises will be seen & scrutinized closely by the public. Rivals will also have a keen eye on party’s delivery mechanism as Kejriwal promised ‘free model of governance’ in almost all states that went to polls.
In near future, as other states go to polls, Kejriwal will look to expand party’s base & clout. The weakening of Congress pan India is also giving a good breeding ground to AAP. If Mann-led dispensation throws up new ideas of governance and gets rid of long pending issues in Punjab, the party will surely have one more achievement to brag about.
