‘Game over in Delhi, time for AAP to pack bags here’: BJP says Kejriwal to feel impact of Assembly poll results in Punjab too

Anil Sarin, state BJP general secretary said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was ruling Delhi and Punjab, has lost the National Capital to the BJP. “No doubt Punjab will see its ripple effects in 2027. The people of Punjab are already tired of three years of AAP rule. Hence, we will reach out to the masses to convert the vote share into seats.”

“The AAP and Kejriwal’s game has finished in Delhi. Over to Punjab now,” he said, adding, “The BJP is being reorganised. Bodies at the mandal, district and booth level will be re-elected by February-end and the new state body will be elected in March. So things will be clear by next month. We are already working at the grassroots and yes, after the Delhi polls we need to be more aggressive.”

Denying that the farmers’ protests have impacted the BJP’s vote bank in Punjab, Sarin said, “The protests at Khanauri and Shambhu borders are by a select group and not by all unions. Look at our vote share in the Lok Sabha polls in Punjab. We lost by a small margin in Ferozepur, Patiala, Amritsar and Ludhiana. If there was no support, how could we get so much vote? But yes, we need to convert it into seats in 2027. We will turn the tables in Punjab in the 2027 Vidhan Sabha polls to create history.”

In September 2020, the BJP’s long-term ally Shiromani Akali Dali (SAD) left the alliance over the three controversial farm laws. Since then, both parties have been facing successive defeats in elections in Punjab. In the 2022 Assembly polls, the saffron party could win only two seats while the SAD won three (one MLA defected to the AAP in March this year).

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, though the SAD won the Bathinda seat, its vote share was far less than that of the BJP which could not win a single seat. In November last year, the BJP also faced debacles in bypolls to four Assembly seats, even losing the security deposits in three seats. The SAD had not contested the bypolls.

The BJP and SAD also lost the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll in June 2022, Jalandhar Lok Sabha bye-election in May 2023 and the Jalandhar West Assembly bypoll in July 2024. The silver lining, however, was that the BJP’s vote share was better than that of the SAD. Even in the local body polls held in December last year, the BJP could win six per cent of the total seats compared to three per cent of the Akali Dal, as per AAP leader Aman Arora.

However, a large influx of Congress leaders into the BJP from 2021 onwards has irked its former members who have found it difficult to accommodate the new entrants. “But the founder BJP leaders need to show their own report cards. A leader is needed who can take all members of the party along, rank and file. Hope the state leadership overcomes its infighting,” said a senior BJP leader.

Punjab leaders react to BJP’s Delhi win

Meanwhile, Sunil Jakhar took to X and congratulated the BJP for its victory in Delhi. “Congratulations to Union Home Minister Amit Shah Ji, National President JP Nadda Ji, and all BJP workers for making Delhi AAP-free under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji. Their hard work has led to the lotus blooming in Delhi after 27 years,” he said.

“Now, Prime Minister Modi Ji must also take the responsibility of making Punjab AAP-free. Punjabis are now looking towards Modi Ji, hoping that under his leadership, the atmosphere of fear in Punjab will end, and people will be able to live in peace and harmony,” he added.

Kewal Singh Dhillon, core committee member of Punjab BJP, said, “The people of Punjab should take lessons from the people of Delhi and Haryana. I am sure this effect is going to last and in 2027, the BJP will form government in Punjab.”

Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu said the people of Delhi have vacated the “Sheesh Mahal” of Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Atishi, in a reference to the party’s allegations that Kejriwal spent crores refurbishing the Delhi Chief Minister’s residence.

“Bhagwant Mann should now start packing his bags… Today the whole country is celebrating the victory of Delhi’s BJP workers… When the BJP comes to power in Punjab, no one will have to sell their house, property, or land to go abroad. Everyone will get work here. This is Narendra Modi’s vision…,” Bittu said.

BJP state vice-president and former MLA Arvind Khanna asserted that the people of Delhi have overwhelmingly rejected the AAP “development model”.  Khanna said, “This decisive mandate signals the beginning of the AAP’s downfall in Punjab as well.”

He accused the AAP of deceiving the public with false promises. “The party’s misgovernance in Punjab has exposed its true face. I applaud Delhiites for their verdict and ask Punjab’s voters to take note and prepare to remove the AAP from power in the upcoming Assembly elections.”

Meanwhile, former SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal congratulated Delhiites for removing Kejriwal from power. “Big congratulations to the people of Delhi who have seen through the web of lies and deceit of the Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal and rejected both thoroughly. Like Delhi, the AAP is also engaging in massive corruption and diversion of funds in Punjab,” he said.

“Its leadership has no moral values and has failed on all fronts, besides destroying the state’s economy. I appeal to Punjabis to pack them off in the same manner as Delhiites in the forthcoming Assembly elections,” Badal added.