Jalandhar bypolls: Another chance for AAP to show 2022 victory in Punjab was not a fluke

It has been a little more than a year now that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power in Punjab, surfing on a wave of ‘badlaav’ – which roughly translates to ‘change’. The party won 92 out of 117 seats in March 2022.
But, three months later, AAP faced an unexpected setback when it lost the Lok Sabha byelection in Sangrur – the seat vacated by CM Bhagwant Mann. Now, they have got another chance to prove that the landslide victory in March 2022 was not a fluke.
The Jalandhar parliamentary seat, which has been a Congress stronghold for decades, goes to bypolls on May 10. And all major political parties in the state have thrown their hats in the ring. In this multi-cornered battle, AAP’s candidate is Sushil Rinku – a former Congress MLA. Rinku officially joined AAP on April 5 and he was named as the party’s candidate for the Jalandhar byelection the very next day.
To delve deeper into the importance of the upcoming byelection for the AAP and the interpretations of its possible outcomes, Abhishek Dey spoke with Punjab’s finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema, who is also the senior-most in CM Mann’s Cabinet.
Why did AAP give the ticket to a leader who recently migrated from Congress? Does the party not have enough faces of its own any more?
It should not be seen like that. Rinku has a good track record in the region. And AAP is always open to welcoming people who are good performers. The only thing is that our doors are open for only honest people. We have no room for the corrupt. And our candidate has a clean record.
It has been a month since AAP launched a crackdown on Amritpal Singh. Will this issue cast its shadows in the upcoming bypolls?
Absolutely not. There will be no impact at all. People in Punjab want peace and harmony. They want good schools and hospitals. And they trust only the AAP in that regard.
In that case, why did AAP lose the Sangrur byelection in June 2022?
The first reason is that we did not get much time to show our performance. We were only a three-month-old government then. The second reason is that we were slightly over-confident.
Why do you think things will be different this time?
We think so because we have one year of good governance to back us. Secondly, this is our first election, along with Karnataka assembly polls, after becoming a national party. That definitely adds a lot of weight to the campaign.
So, will the outcome be a verdict on your performance in the last one year?
Yes. And we are positive about it.
Who do you see as your main opponent in the upcoming byelection?
It is the Congress. This seat has been a Congress stronghold for many years. But this time it will change. People know that AAP has four more years to perform in the domain of good governance. They will vote for AAP.
What do you think gives you an edge over your political opponents?
Our ability to perform and honesty in our politics. It is because of these qualities, we have been able to launch schemes such as 300 units of free electricity for every household, construct schools of eminence and set up more than 500 Mohalla Clinics in one year of coming to power.