Devjyot ghoshal

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – A new political party, which rules India’s capital, has won an election in Punjab, according to a Thursday vote count. This boosts its chances of being the main opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, (BJP).

According to data from the Election Commission, Aam Aadmi Party, led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was in control of 91 of 117 northern seats and appeared set to defeat the incumbent Congress party, the BJP, and a regional party.

Saurabh Bharadwaj, the spokesperson for the party, stated to Reuters, “Now, there will be a National Alternative to the BJP or Congress.”

In Hindi, the party’s name means “common man”, and was founded in 2012. It emerged from an anticorruption movement. Soon after it gained power in capital, which is home to over 20 million people.

Analysts believe that Kejriwal’s reputation for being an incorruptible leader who has a history of delivering public service is the reason it appeals to so many people.

Neelanjan Sicar, senior fellow at Centre for Policy Research, stated that the former bureaucrat, aged 53, has a clean appearance and is considered to have done a good job in Delhi.

Modi’s party and his supporters are strong as they prepare for India’s 2024 general election. The BJP is a strong vote-winner with its formidable electoral machine, deep pockets and Hindu nationalist agenda.

The Congress party has not been able to unite opposition to Modi, who ruled India for many decades and has struggled to stop a decline in popularity.

Sircar said that this raises the possibility of the AAP growing and giving new life to an anti-Modi bloc.

He said, “It’s difficult not to notice Kejriwal & Aam Aadmi Party emerging as a serious Opposition over time.”

‘DELHI MODEL’

Bharadwaj stated that the AAP would focus its efforts on supporting Modi in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh’s northern states. Modi is from Gujarat and will continue to support the AAP.

“In national politics the BJP survives because there is no alternative – Congress, which has a weak alternative, is the only viable alternative,” he stated.

Aman Arora from Punjab was a lawmaker and joined the party because of the inspiration Kejriwal gave him. He said the AAP’s Delhi performances had won the hearts of Punjabi voters, who are more than 27,000,000 people. The party must build upon that.

Arora said, “Our greatest strength and driving force are the governance models of the past five years in Delhi”, pointing out mainly the improvements in education-health that the AAP has shown as the “Delhi” model.

Bharadwaj admitted that it was a difficult task to take on the BJP, but he stated that he believed his party could use Punjab for the benefit of the entire country.

He stated that “we cannot compete with the BJP for resources”

But when we begin performing in Punjab there will be many compelling reasons to vote for Aam Aadmi Party.