oppn parties AAP-in-Punjab Going the BJP-in-Delhi Way

News Snippets

  • For the first time ever, Mukesh Ambani buys a 29% stake in Gautam Adani's Mahan Energen, a subsidiary of Adani Power to source 500MW of electricity from the company's power plant in MP
  • Stocks continue to rise on Thursday - Sensex gains 639 points to 73635 and Nifty 203 points to 22326
  • Golf - Indian Open: 3 Indians at tied 14th as Joost Luiten takes the lead with a wonderful 7-under 65
  • IPL: RR beat DC by 12 runs as Riyan Parag (84 off just 45 balls) shines
  • SP drops two candidates owing allegiance to Azam Khan from Rampur and Moradabad
  • In Assam, a controversy erupted after a picture of UPPL leader Benjamin Basumatary, lying on a stack of Rs 500 notes circulated on social media. UPPL is an ally of the BJP
  • AAP's Jalandhar-West MP Sushil Kumar Rinku joins the BJP. He was the only AAP Lok Sabha MP
  • Supreme Court dismisses Centre's plea to review its 2023 verdict in the PMLA case
  • Close save for passengers as they remain unhurt after the wings of two planes graze at Kolkata airport. Pilots derostered and inquiry ordered by DGCA
  • Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh gets notice from the EC as well as the BJP for making ugly remarks about Mamata Banerjee's parentage
  • Sadanand Vasanth Date, who faught terrorists in the 26/11 attack and was awarded the Preisent's Police medal, has been appointed the head of the NIA
  • Centre will borrow Rs 7.5L cr in the first six months of FY25, nearly 50% of the target for the full year
  • 25 stocks, including SBI, will see same day trade settlements from today in the world's fastest settlement mode in both BSE and NSE
  • Stocks recover smartly on Wednesday: Sensex rises 526 points to 72996 and Nifty 118 points to 22123
  • Tennis: Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden reached the semifinals of the Miami Open
Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena says government cannot be run from jail, hints at President's Rule in the capital ////// In a dangerous incident, the wings of two planes grazed while taxiing on the runway at Kolkata airport, all passengers were safe but DGCA ordered an inquiry and the pilots were derostered
oppn parties
AAP-in-Punjab Going the BJP-in-Delhi Way

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2016-07-18 22:50:59

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
Is the AAP making the same mistake in Punjab that the BJP made in Delhi? Reports indicate that Navjot Sidhu will join the party and will be made its CM candidate.

By snaring Navjot Singh Sidhu, AAP has not inflicted a wound on the BJP – the party had not given Sindhu any huge responsibility in the run-up to the Punjab elections and that was the main reason why he left it – instead, it has foisted an ‘outsider’ on the party cadres who will not be much enthused.

Precisely the same thing was done by the BJP in Delhi when it had brought in Kiran Bedi to be its CM face, ignoring party heavy weights like Harsh Vardhan and Vijay Goel, among others. It had led to a complete rout of the BJP in the elections. It was advantage AAP and Kejriwal then. But with Sidhu in Punjab, it is going to be disadvantage all the way.

The people are not to be fooled in this age of increased political awareness. Everyone knows what Sidhu thought of Kejriwal and his party some months back. The original nautankibaaz is all set to join the AAP-Kejriwal nautanki. People spot an opportunist the moment they see one and Sidhu, along with AAP, will be rejected, like Bedi and BJP were in Delhi. It will be advantage Congress and Capt. Amrinder Singh, as the Akali Dal-BJP combine seem to have lost the people’s faith - anti-incumbency and large scale charges of corruption and nepotism being the main reasons.

Whatever little goodwill AAP had generated with its campaign will now be lost if it makes a turncoat like Sidhu its CM candidate.