Knives out as AAP weighs up losses in Punjab, heads to roll

Knives out as AAP weighs up losses in Punjab, heads to roll

Chandigarh: With the ruling Aam Aadmi Party of Punjab suffering defeat in 60 of the 92 Assembly segments represented by its MLAs, the knives are out.  Even as Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann confined himself to his residence here since yesterday, AAP MLAs and ministers remained engaged in informal discussions on the drubbing faced by the party in the LS elections wherein it won just three of the 13 Lok Sabha seats. Incidentally, the party campaign had centred around CM Mann.

According to information available with The Tribune, a number of party leaders had sensed on the polling day itself that the party would not do well. Many of the leaders had even rushed to Delhi to meet AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal before he surrendered himself on June 2. Though they could not talk to him and express their anguish at the poor show expected, some of them managed to convey their concern to Sandeep Pathak, the party’s chief poll strategist and Rajya Sabha MP, sources said, adding that Kejriwal relies heavily on Pathak, who is now accepted as AAP’s tallest leader in Delhi.

Pathak is expected to reach here by Friday morning, and he along with CM Mann will chair meetings of MLAs from each of the 13 parliamentary constituencies to analyse the reasons for the setback and decide on remedial measures.

Meanwhile at a press conference in New Delhi today, Pathak said in spite of the difficult circumstances for AAP because of the arrest of many of its leaders, it did well in Punjab and Chandigarh by stopping the BJP from winning. “Our vote share has increased from 7 per cent in 2019 to 26 per cent.”

The sources said a Cabinet reshuffle was imminent now, and several new faces could be brought in employing the “social engineering” tactic. A Hindu face might be inducted from Ludhiana as the Cabinet so far has no representation from the city.

During the rejig, the results in Assembly segments of all AAP MLAs will determine the allocation of Cabinet berths. The party lost in the Assembly constituencies represented by eight ministers Lal Chand Kataruchak, Balkar Singh, Laljit Bhullar, Anmol Gagan Maan, Dr Baljit Kaur, Brahm Shankar Jimpa, Gurmeet Singh Khudian and Harbhajan Singh ETO.

AAP leaders are also concerned about the reduction of the party vote base, which is more apparent in the reserved Assembly segments. An analysis of voting pattern by AAP has revealed that its Dalit vote base has shifted to the Congress.

Manwinder Singh Gyaspura, the AAP MLA from Payal, said the party must analyse how the Dalits, constituting 34 per cent of voters in Punjab, had switched over to the Congress. “In Fatehgarh Sahib, they voted en masse for the Congress. We need to analyse why they shifted their loyalties and do immediate course correction. On the other hand, the youth has been swayed by Amritpal,” he said.