Chandigarh: In January 2022, with barely a month to go for the assembly elections in Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had released a catchy Punjabi song to be played at its meetings and rallies: Ik mauka Kejriwal nu…ik mauka Bhagwant Mann nu… (Give one chance to Kejriwal, one chance to Bhagwant Mann…) The focus of the poll campaign was on AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, with Mann as his protégé in a subordinate role.
Two years later, ahead of the general election, the AAP in Punjab has made a clear shift in its poll strategy.
On Monday, Kejriwal launched the party’s poll campaign in Punjab with the slogan sansad vich vee Bhagwant Mann, Khushaal Punjab dee vadhegi shaan (Bhagwant Mann for Parliament, too…prosperous Punjab will rise in glory).
Dr Kanwalpreet Kaur, a professor at the Department of Political Science, DAV College, Chandigarh, said, “This is not something new, though it is most prominently visible now after the poll campaign slogan has been announced. Kejriwal has been relegated to backseat driving in Punjab politics for several months now. The prime reason has been the manner in which the Enforcement Directorate is gunning for Kejriwal, making his position within AAP precarious.”
She added: “Also, Bhagwant Mann has managed to successfully project an image of being entirely in control of his state and government. He has led an offensive and dominant attack against the Opposition. He has clearly emerged as a bold and confident leader who doesn’t need to play second fiddle to Kejriwal.”
Launching the campaign in Mohali Monday, Kejriwal said, “In Punjab, we have to win all 13 seats…We do not want these 13 seats for ourselves but for your children…These 13 MPs will be the 13 arms of Bhagwant Mann who will then make sure that the voice of Punjab is heard in Parliament.”
In contrast, ahead of the 2022 assembly elections in Punjab, Kejriwal had started campaigning in the state almost a year before the elections were due. He was not only leading the campaign in public meetings, road shows and rallies, but was also the one rolling out poll promises in the form of ‘Kejriwal ki guarantee’. Almost the entire election campaign was run with Kejriwal’s posters everywhere.
Mann accompanied him to gather crowds but was not made the face of the campaign. He was announced as the chief ministerial candidate only in January 2022, a month before the actual voting was to take place.
Kaur said: “The party’s strategy in the assembly elections was to keep Mann in the background till the very end. Mann, because of his drinking habits, could have become an easy target for opponents and spoiled AAP’s entire campaign. Very little time was given to opponents to attack Mann personally.”
She added: “For the general elections now, it is Kejriwal who is on the back foot and an easy target for the Opposition because of his alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor scam, for which the ED has sent him multiple notices, and the fear of his arrest looms large. The party seems to have decided that Kejriwal should be focusing his attention mainly in Delhi.”
Meanwhile, on Friday, the party launched its Lok Sabha poll campaign from Delhi with the slogan sansad mein bhi Kejriwal, tabhee Dilli hogee aur khushahaal (‘Kejriwal in Parliament too, Delhi will be even more prosperous’).
Political analyst Baljit Balli told ThePrint that the power shift to Mann from Kejriwal was visible in AAP’s public meetings in Punjab. “The minute Mann ends his speech, people in the gathering start leaving, having little interest in hearing Kejriwal,” said Balli.
Also read: Mann’s political transformation in AAP: From ‘in-house entertainer’ to a virtual number 2