New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is turning tables in Punjab as the Arvind Kejriwal led party has announced its presence in a grand style. The AAP broom has swept the border state as early trends show the party leading in at least 80 seats, easily past the majority mark of 59 in the 117 Punjab Assembly. As it is, the prayers Bhagwant Mann, the AAP CM face, offered at Gurdwara Gursagar Mastuana Sahib today morning may have been answered.
Mann as per the latest trends was leading from Dhuri while CM Charanjit Singh Channi was trailing from both Bhadaur and Chamkaur Sahib. While exit polls had already predicted a victory of the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab, party's state co-in charge Raghav Chadha on Thursday said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal "is the hope of crores of people" and if people give an opportunity, he will be seen in a "bigger role of Prime Minister" after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Chadha said AAP has emerged as a major national force and will be a "natural and national" replacement of Congress. "Arvind Kejriwal is the hope of crores of people. If God is willing and people give an opportunity, he will definitely be seen in a bigger role - that of the Prime Minister - soon. AAP will emerge as a major national political force," Chadha said. If AAP wins in Punjab, the barely 10-year-old party will achieve the once unthinkable and have governments in Punjab and Delhi.
"Punjab polls show that AAP has emerged as a national political force. It took BJP ten years to form its first government in a state. It is not even ten years since AAP's inception and we are forming a government in two states. AAP will be Congress' national and natural replacement," Chadha said. Celebrations in Delhi, Punjab and other state offices of AAP have already begun.
Addressing and thanking people from the Chandigarh party office, Chadha said grave allegations were made against Kejriwal to the point that he was called a terrorist. "But today, the people of Punjab have proved that Arvind Kejriwal is not an aantankwadi (terrorist) but a shikshawadi (pro-education) and vikaswadi (pro-development)," he said.
Meanwhile, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said that the people of Punjab had given an opportunity to AAP to implement the "Kejriwal model of governance". "It has been established in the entire country today that the model is a hope for those people who are suffering from corruption, lack of education, jobs, and other basic issues," he said. "The model has got a national identity," he added. He too said the likely win in Punjab would pave AAP's way in national politics so that the party can implement the "Kejriwal model" elsewhere as well.
Exit polls on Monday predicted a clear victory for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab with the scale of the party's victory varying across various surveys. Several surveys predicted the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, which is in power in Delhi, getting a landslide victory.
The surveys also predicted that the ruling Congress will finish a distant second in the state followed by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) which had allied with Bahujan Samaj Party. The BJP and its allies are not predicted to do well, according to the surveys. Polling was held in the state on February 20 and the results are being declared today March 10.
