By Rahil Nora Chopra
The spectacular victory of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab will help it emerge as an important player in the non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) camp and set the stage for the NDA versus various regional parties competition in the 2024 general elections. The landmark victory with huge mandate has put AAP as a key challenger to BJP at pan-India levels for the first time. With the Congress increasingly losing ground, AAP’s expansion mode might see it take on the BJP in Gujarat. With Delhi and Punjab under its control, the AAP has declared itself a potent force to take on the BJP. In his victory speech at the party head office in Delhi, AAP chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said: “The AAP is not a party any more, it is a revolution. The revolution started in Delhi and it will now spread across the country.” Kejriwal’s emphatic victory speech resonated with many with parties such as AAP, the Trinamool Congress, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) waiting to play a bigger role in the national political arena. It must be remembered that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s plan is to skirt the ‘grand old party’, and create an alliance of non-Congress, non-BJP outfits such as the TMC, AAP, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), TRS, YSRCP, SP, NCP, Janata Dal (Secular) and Shiv Sena. It remains to be seen when Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray and Arvind Kejriwal chart their own course of action for 2024.
CM YOGI SCRIPTS HISTORY WITH HIS BIG COMEBACK IN UP
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has made history in the Uttar Pradesh’s politics with a record second term win. Yogi has become the first chief minister of India’s most populous state to return to power after completing a full tenure of five years. Four chief ministers, however, have returned to power in Uttar Pradesh in the past, but none of them was in the office for a full five-year term. Narayan Dutt Tiwari was the last Uttar Pradesh (undivided) chief minister to win consecutive terms in 1985. This makes Yogi Adityanath the first chief minister to retain power in 37 years. Other UP chief ministers to retain for the consecutive terms were Sampoornananda in 1957, Chandrabhanu Gupta in 1962 and Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna (Lok Sabha MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s father) in 1974.
TROUBLES BREWS FOR CONGRESS IN RAJASTHAN, CHHATTISGARH
As evident with the election results, the Congress has lost all the five states in the assembly polls. Across the board, Congress cadres and party workers are anxiously awaiting for the high command to focus on restructuring the party and a decision will have to be taken on the new party president over the next few months. The two states in which the Congress is in power independently, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, are also in turmoil. Sachin Pilot loyalists hope there will be leadership change in Rajasthan. In Chhattisgarh, a group led by TS Singh Deo, the current health minister, is hoping for something similar. Tough decisions ahead for Sonia and Rahul Gandhi as changing CMs has never been an easy task.
PAWAR PRAISES AKHILESH, WANTS ANTI-BJP COALITION TO SOLIDIFY
In the wake of the results of assembly elections in five states, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar dismissed the possibility of having any impact on the future of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra. He made a pitch for initiating a process to give an alternative to the BJP by bringing opposition parties together. Pawar said: “I am not saying this will happen tomorrow itself. Parliament’s session will resume on March 14. We will all be there for a month. So we will sit together, discuss and decide the future course of action.” Sharad Pawar also said that Akhilesh Yadav has put up a fight to BJP all alone. “Akhilesh Yadav is not at fault, he contested on his own. He has higher stature in this country. He has fought better than before.”
BJP’S RAJE DECLARES RAJASTHAN 2023 POLL BUGLE IN STYLE
Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje declared the triumphant tone for the state assembly elections in 2023 by holding a grand show of strength to mark her 69th birthday in Keshoraipatan, a small town in Bundi. Raje gave a poll slogan: “Ab hamari paari — 2023 ke baari (It’s our turn, in 2023)”. Thousands of people have been reported to have attended her address, leaving the small-town jostle for space. She claimed that all past records of the party’s victory will be broken in 2023. “The historic win of 120 seats (out of 200 seats) in 2003 followed by 163 seats in 2013. Now, a new record will be formed in 2023,” said Raje. (IPA Service)
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