In what may come as a breather for the major political parties in Punjab, including the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party combine, and the main opposition Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided not to contest the Dhuri byelection, scheduled for April 11.
Announcing this, party's MPs Bhagwant Mann from Sangrur and Prof Sadhu Singh from Faridkot on Sunday cited “unsufficient organisational structure” as its decision to back out. They maintained that the party first needed to build its base at the grassroots-level across the State.
The party had earlier announced that it would contest the Dhuri by-elections, and it was expected that the party is eyeing to ride on the popularity wave of the local MP Bhagwant Mann. During 2014 parliamentary elections, Mann secured a lead of 32,000 votes from Dhuri segment that encouraged the party workers to contest byelection. However, it seems that the party high command did not take their sentiments in view.
Sources revealed that AAP workers in Punjab had also sent their opinions separately to the AAP’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that the party should contest the byelection. But, due to internal ‘fight’ of the AAP’s senior leaders in Delhi, the senior leadership seemed to have failed to take a decision about the name of the AAP candidate from Dhuri.
Earlier also, the party had decided to stay away from the civic body polls making it clear that it would focus on State-level elections first rather than contesting municipal or panchayat polls. Its decision to contest two bypolls in Patiala and Talwandi Sabo proved fatal for the party with both the candidates losing their security deposits.
The party has already declared that it is primarily focussing on the next State Assembly polls in the scheduled to be held sometime in 2017, and has announced its “Mission 2017”.
“We are preparing for the assembly elections and I assure you that the AAP will form Government in Punjab in 2017. AAP was launched with an ideology and we have tried to stick to that and, hopefully, we will succeed in stirring the consciousness of the people in the coming days,” Mann said, adding that the AAP is a party of the common people and not of leaders.
Mann, addressing a party meeting at Badhni Kalan near Moga, said that the people of Punjab would punish the ruling SAD-BJP alliance in assembly elections in 2017. Considering to pose a tough challenge to the main political parties in the State, especially after registering a historic win in Delhi assembly polls, the party decision to not to contest Dhuri by poll has given a sigh of relief to the SAD-BJP combine and the Congress, which was holding Dhuri assembly segment.
Dhuri constituency fall vacant after Congress MlA Arvind Khanna decided to leave active politics. AAP MPs alleged that the Akali Dal had earlier forced by-elections in Moga and Talwandi Sabo by making sitting Congress MlAs quit their party.
"The byelections were forced to score political objectives only. The practice of forcing byelections merely to achieve petty targets should be done away with," they said. Mann said: "No doubt, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's family has made its career via politics, but the career of youth, farmers, labourers, small traders, students and poor sections of Punjab has been lost due to lack of good policies. Politics is not a career, but a mission for me. I will serve my people till my last breath.”
He alleged that SAD and BJP are dishonest parties. “leaders of these parties are responsible for looting Punjab and defaming the rich Punjabi culture world over. Chief Minister Badal and his deputy son Sukhbir Badal are playing a double role over the sensitive issue of the Punjabis, who were facing a lot of problems at the moment.”