Speaking after a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and 91 state MLAs, National Convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday called for collective focus on Assembly polls in the agrarian state in 2027 and dismissed talk of trouble in the party in that state, said a party leader.
The meeting sent out a strong signal about there being no threat to the party's government in Punjab amid claims by rival Congress about a brewing discontent after the AAP's defeat in Delhi.
Besides Kejriwal, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sandeep Pathak were also present in the meeting in which Delhi leaders thanked Punjab leaders for their efforts in the party's campaign and dissected the loss in the national Capital to take forward the learnings from it, said a party leader.
After the meeting, CM Mann said discussions were also held on developing a new model for the agrarian state. Referring to Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa's claim that 30 AAP MLAs of the state's ruling party were in touch with him, Chief Minister Mann said it is his party's culture to jump ships. "He has been saying this for the last three years," he said.
Talking about the party's defeat in Delhi, he alleged that the "BJP used malpractices of distributing gifts and we were forced to complain to the Election Commission every fourth hour. But we respect the Delhi voters' mandate." He also reiterated that the AAP government in Punjab would fulfill its promise of paying Rs 1,000 to women in the state but refused to share any deadline to deliver on the promise.
CM Mann said that the AAP government was committed to fulfilling all poll promises and said the government has gone beyond the poll promises for public welfare. "We shut down 17 toll plazas bringing a daily relief of Rs 62 lakh to commuters," he said while highlighting the welfare work done by the Punjab government. "We are committed to spending public money on them," said CM Mann. The meeting comes at a time when the AAP has fared miserably in the Delhi Assembly elections and increased speculation about internal dissent is coming from the party's Punjab unit. Earlier, AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang termed the reports of dissent as exaggerated. He said the meeting was nothing but a "routine strategy session".
AAP Punjab President Aman Arora had also stated that there is nothing to read in the meeting. "It is a general meeting. The party chief will be addressing all of us after the Delhi elections. Otherwise, we have no fear of anyone. We are united. Such meetings have been held in the past also. There is nothing new. Since Kejriwal has not addressed us for a long time now, we will be going to meet him," said Arora.
The major setback this time was to the AAP, which had been ruling the capital since the past decade. It could win only 22 seats in the 70-member House of the February 5 polls. The BJP with 48 seats ended the AAP's rule in the national Capital, raising concerns about the party's electoral prospects elsewhere.
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