The way was cleared for the Chief Minister to go to Rajya Sabha for Vipassana meditation, so that the importance of great politics should remain but the challenges of Bhagwant Man Sarkar in Punjab
After getting out of the capital Delhi hand, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal has probably turned to the stronghold Punjab. On March 16, the AAP government is completing three years in Punjab. But many types of apprehensions about the government are floating in the air. Therefore, perhaps Kejriwal has increased activity in Punjab by distance from Delhi. To say, Kejriwal has come to the Vipasana Dhyan Kendra of Hoshiarpur in Punjab from 7 to 17 March to meditate on the heavy security circle of Punjab Police in the meditation and yoga posture. But after the defeat in the Delhi elections, he has made a strategy to be active in the politics of the Center and the state via Punjab.
Since the first day of the formation of the government in Punjab, the Opposition has been surrounded by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as ‘Dummy CM’, but the real operator Kejriwal, who is still behind the curtain, is now openly preparing to become active in the politics of Punjab. AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, Ludhiana industrialist Sanjeev Arora has been cleared by making Kejriwal going to Rajya Sabha by making a candidate for the by -election from Ludhiana (Western) Assembly seat. The notification has not been issued for the by -election in Ludhiana (Western) seat vacated after the innocent death of MLA Gurpreet Singh Gogi, but AAP has decided Arora’s name. However, AAP spokesperson Neil Garg says that after the by -election, it will be decided who will be a better candidate for the vacant Rajya Sabha seat. Currently, seven Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab are Sandeep Pathak, Raghav Chadha, former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Balbir Singh Sinchewal and three businessmen are Ashok Mittal, Vikramjit Sahni and Sanjeev Arora.
Kisan crisis: Police arrangements for farmer front in Chandigarh
For Kejriwal, the entry from Punjab to Rajya Sabha will be his presence in national politics. Experts say that after the weak performance of the recent assembly elections of states like Haryana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, Kejriwal is dreaming of establishing himself as the leader of the opposition. After Delhi and Punjab, their efforts to increase influence in states like Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra are also going on.
In the March 2022 assembly elections, the people of Punjab voted for major changes from the ritual parties like Shiromani Akali Dal, Congress and BJP. So, with an unexpected victory over 92 out of the total 117 seats, I came to power in Punjab. However, it is a tough challenge for AAP to repeat the victory in the 2027 assembly elections with a difficult implementation of the six guarantees on which he won.
The AAP government, which claimed to provide 43,000 government jobs in the state, could not create an atmosphere in its favor, apart from repetition of models like Mohalla Clinic, School of Eminence, Free Electricity, Free Power in Government Buses, free power in government buses. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling AAP won only three out of 13 seats in Punjab, while the main opposition party Congress got seven seats. Khalistan pro -Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) chief Amritpal Singh won from Khadur Sahib and his colleague from Muktsar, Sarvajit Singh Khalsa won independents. The rise of extremists in Punjab under AAP rule is not an auspicious sign for the politics of the state.
Apart from this, it is also a big challenge for the AAP government to fulfill all the election promises in the next two years under a loan of three and a half lakh crore rupees. During the recent Delhi Assembly elections, AAP, who made an election promise of giving an allowance of Rs 2100 to women every month, had filled the affidavits to pay 1000 rupees every month during the Punjab assembly elections in 2022, which was promised to increase to Rs 1100 during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. But half of the state’s population has been waiting for this allowance for three years. It is estimated that the implementation of this announcement may cost the government about Rs 3000 crore annually.
Not only this, issues like drug addiction, corruption and law and order for Bhagwant Mann government remain a sore throat. Every month, domestic consumers have been overshadowing the crispy gardener of the state like 300 units of free electricity. 79.90 lakh domestic consumers have been loaded with about Rs 8,785 crore annually, while the burden of Rs 10,200 crore is already there on free electricity for farming. The possibility of electricity subsidy burden on the government in FY 2024-25 cannot be ruled out.
Meeting of farmer leaders with Chief Minister Mann
In order to overcome the financial crisis, the Engineers Association of Punjab Power Corporation had suggested to the government that in addition to shutting down free electricity to those who pay income tax, government employees should be given 300 units free electricity to the same domestic electricity connection in a house. Association president Baldev Singh Saran told Outlook that many people had taken more than one electricity connections in one house before the start of free power scheme to domestic consumers from July 2022, so that more and more free electricity could be availed.
Due to the crispy gardener situation in Punjab, it is a tough challenge to fulfill the populist promises before the 2027 assembly elections, as the employees have a crisis even on time. Making the sand mafia an issue in the 2022 assembly elections, AAP claimed to raise revenue of Rs 20,000 crore annually from the sand on the sand mining mafia in Punjab, but in the last two financial years, only Rs 527 crore could be raised from sand mining.
The Punjab Urban Development Authority is auctioning land to bring the state’s financial condition back on track. Even in a city like Mohali near Chandigarh, the land of public parks kept vacant in the name of a green belt is being auctioned. In March itself, the preparation of the authority is to e-auction assets worth Rs 2,000 crore from 23 cities.
Amidst all such challenges, the Aam Aadmi Party, who acknowledged the defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections, is now very active about Punjab. Kejriwal has held several rounds of meetings with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, all ministers, MLAs and party officials since the next day of Delhi election results. He has focused his focus in Punjab.
On Kejriwal’s instructions, the AAP government has launched a rage against drugs and corruption. In the 2022 assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party had guaranteed the abolition of drugs from Punjab within a month of the formation of the government. The fate of this guarantee also became like the election guarantee of former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. Amarinder also consumed Gutka Sahib at a rally to end drug addiction in four weeks before the formation of the Congress government in the 2017 assembly elections.
The problem of drug addiction in Punjab has been very serious. AAP also redeemed the drug addiction for the last two decades in the assembly elections. On 16 March 2022, along with taking oath of office in Khatkadalan, Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s birthplace, Bhagwant Mann promised that Punjab would be drug -free within a month. But even after three years, the problem of drugs in the state remains serious.
AAP’s six major guarantees were a big guarantee of drug addiction, but after three years passed, the AAP government could not get Punjab out of the drug trap. Before the completion of three years of the government on March 16, 15 -member committees have been set up for each 12,000 villages from the Cabinet Sub Committee to all 12,000 villages of the state under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Harpal Cheema for the “War Drugs” campaign. To overcome drugs smugglers, more than 84 entrances have been sealed on the borders with other states. 250 police teams have been formed, to lead 108 SP and DSP level officers to lead. Bulldozers were run in Patiala, Amritsar and Khanna to demolish illegal constructions of drug addicts. In recent action, the government claims that drugs worth more than Rs 800 crore have been seized and more than 500 FIRs have been registered.
Describing the “War Drug Drugs” campaign of the AAP government as a political drama, Leader of Opposition Pratap Bajwa told Outlook, “The supply of drug addiction has doubled in the three -year tenure of the AAP government, which has made an election promise to free Punjab in a month. Drugs, sand and alcohol mafia under the patronage of AAP MLAs are proving to be full. Used to be.”
Here, on the claim of being a staunch honest government, the opposition leaders are also surrounding the issue of corruption, saying that there was no shortage in corruption, two months after the formation of the government on charges of corruption, in May 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party government had to arrest his own Health Minister Dr. Vijay Singla, the Minister of Revenue Department, Brahm Shankar Jimpa was also removed from the post of Minister. Many MLAs were arrested.
Punjab BJP in -charge and former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani surrounded the AAP government of Punjab, saying, “The Vigilance Bureau who sent more than half a dozen ministers of the previous Congress government behind bars for a tough attack on corruption, AAP ministers and MLAs are also trapped in the grip of the same bureau.”
To improve the foggy image of the staunch honest government, the Bhagwant government recently removed Vigilance Bureau chief Varinder Sharma and made Nageshwar Rao the bureau chief. Within two days of taking charge of Rao, 52 corrupt policemen were fired, including only constables and inspectors.
The AAP government claims the target of opposition parties in the corruption case that a tough stand has been taken against corruption. In the last one year, more than 250 government officials have been arrested on corruption charges and investigation is going on against many others. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has said many times, “The government will not tolerate corruption at any cost. In the last one week, the government has taken a big step against corruption and dismissed 52 policemen. This step reflects the government’s message of zero tolerance policy towards corruption and gives a message that if any officer or employee is found involved in corruption, it would not be sparked.”
For the last five years, the tone of the Chief Minister Mann has been changed to overcome the displeasure of the businessmen of the state, who were still standing in support of the farmers. Mannit Singh Dallewal’s Khannari border for more than 100 days on the Khannari border for more than 100 days. After a untouched meeting with the farmer leaders on March 4, Mann said, “Farmers are related to the issue center. The Punjab government has taken the initiative of arbitration to interact with the Center. The farmers should take care that the people of the state should not be disturbed by the demonstrations.” On the voice of Maan, the Punjab Police arrested all the big farmer leaders including Joginder Singh Ugarhan on the border of Mohali, before the Chandigarh Cooch on March 5 of the farmers organizations.
Connecting the long dharna-demonstrations of farmers with law and order, Badish Jindal, president of All India Small Scale Industries Federation, told Outlook, “No one is ready to come here in view of the bad situation in Punjab. Many big industrial houses of Ludhiana have turned to Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat for business expansion.”
In Punjab, there has been an increase of 15 percent in criminal cases between 2022 and 2024, which is a major challenge for the government. The unemployment rate is also increasing due to more than 8 percent. The government has launched schemes like setting up employment fairs and promoting startups, but has not yet shown a major impact. The crisis of agitating farmers for the legal guarantee of MSP from the Center also remains a major challenge.
Political analysts believe that Kejriwal is also responsible for dealing with the challenges of Punjab with Kejriwal’s activeness in the central and state politics through Punjab after Delhi. It will be interesting to see that after two years, Kejriwal is able to succeed in maintaining the power of Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab?
“Drug supply has doubled in three years of AAP government. Drugs, sand and alcohol mafia are flourishing under the protection of AAP MLAs”
Pratap Singh Bajwa, Leader of Opposition, Congress
“In the last one week, 52 policemen were dismissed. If anyone was found involved in corruption, it will not be spared”
Bhagwant Mann, Chief Minister, Punjab
“The Vigilance Bureau sent half a dozen ministers of the former Congress government behind bars, now AAP ministers, MLAs are also trapped in the grip of the same bureau”
Vijay Rupani, Punjab BJP in charge
