AAP disconnecting with masses, CM Bhagwant Mann incapacitated by Delhi leadership
By SATINDER BAINS
CHANDIGARH: The defeat of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi elections is a lesson and an opportunity for the AAP leadership to make an introspection of flaws in its governance model in Punjab. AAP government is facing bigger challenges than Delhi. The party needs to wake up before it is too late.
To survive in Punjab, AAP leadership shall empower the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to take his own decisions and have a team of advisors who understands Punjab. It is time that Bhagwant Mann asserts his position in the party to regain control of the administration. If domination of Delhi leaders would continue in the government, there is little hope of AAP retaining its base in Punjab.
AAP will face general elections in Punjab in early 2027, having approximately two years period to set its house in order. Practically, it is one year. The AAP has already lost three prime years of governance and seems to have failed to deliver almost on all the fronts. The goodwill earned by AAP with some social welfare schemes is overshadowed by arrogance of people at the helm of affairs in the government.
The Bhagwant Mann government has no road map to address the problems inherited it from the previous governments of SAD-BJP led by Parkash Singh Badal and Congress government of Capt Amarinder Singh. AAP had came to power with the promise to weed out corruption, gang culture and mafia raj but these evils spread deeper in the system.
The Bhagwant Mann government has miserably failed to contain VIP culture, drug menace, illegal mining, real estate and transport mafias. The problem of law and order has deteriorated to an extent that it has become difficult for people to step out of their homes after the sunset. The street is on the rise, the extortion threats, daring robberies have become order of the day.
AAP leadership seems to have closed its eyes and ears to see and hear the ground realties which are totally different than being assumed and projected by AAP to the outside world. Top AAP leaders were not ready to hear the criticism of their policies. The focus is on snubbing the voices of criticism and gagging the media by coercive measures.
The AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal has almost incapacitated Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and it seems CM is working with limited powers to act at his own. Certain AAP leaders from Delhi are directly interfering in the affairs of state administration, creating an impression that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has little say in the administration. Most of the department secretaries are reporting to Delhi AAP leaders instead of Chief Minister. Even some postings of district police and administrative heads were made without informing the CM, the sources in government said.
The AAP leadership has failed to take note of widening gap between government and the people. The policy of feeding the select media is doing more harm than any gain. The Chief Minister is working without any media advisor and press secretary who can advice the CMO on importance and relevance of media in the working of government.
The non-professional people drawn from corporate sector hailing from other states are handling the media management. The talent of officers in the Information and Public Relations department is wasted. The officers of the department have no say in the decision making. Even the minister concerned Harjot Singh Bains seems helpless in this situation.
The AAP leadership should address the lack of communication with opinion makers of society i.e journalists, doctors and teachers, if not understood it would harm the interests of party deep in the roots.
The AAP faces the major challenge of washing the blot of corruption on it which became more prominent after mandate of Delhi voters. The BJP had contested the Delhi elections on single charge of corruption against Arvind Kejriwal and his team. The blot would not be cleaned merely with publicity campaigns but party need to touch the nerve of people at grass root level. The advertisement campaign of projecting Arvind Kejriwal a 'Kattar Imaandaar' in Delhi had failed to convince the voters.
Punjab government had spent crores on funding ad campaign for Delhi based news web portals, most of them not having an office address of Punjab or showing no office address on the portal. A major scam of advertisement funding of fake websites is expected to uncover if an independent probe is conducted. The sources alleged that Punjab funds were diverted for election campaigning in Delhi.
AAP shall note down that BJP has won 9 of 13 Sikh dominated seats in Delhi and three prominent Sikh leaders of BJP Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Arvinder Singh Lovely and Tarwinder Singh Marwaha have won the election. They would supplement the efforts of Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu who is already on the task to corner AAP in Punjab. If freebies of power, water and free travel for women didn't work in Delhi, these would not rescue AAP in Punjab. AAP had got only three seats out of 13 in Punjab is an indicator of falling graph of AAP.
Some political observers also point out that AAP's defeat in Delhi is an opportunity for Bhagwant Mann to regain his lost ground and dominate the Delhi top brass. It is alleged that Bhagwant Mann is not authorised to appoint the personal staff of his choice. A dedicated team of political appointees of Arvind Kejriwal is stationed in the Punjab civil secretariate to monitor the working of all departments.
The mishandling of farmer's agitation by Mann government, failure to resolve issues of various categories of teachers, confrontation with the employees of revenue department, unrest among the veterinary officers and PCMS association, non-action on illegal immigrant agents are few issues before the AAP leadership to address immediately.
The Delhi defeat is also expected to ignite infighting within the Punjab AAP unit amid rumours of change of leadership in the state. The speculations are rife that cabinet minister and recently appointed state president Aman Arora may replace CM Bhagwant Mann before going to 2017 assembly elections.