As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is all set to win Punjab assembly elections with a landslide victory, wiping out the Congress and gaining its second state after Delhi, the party’s Punjab affairs in-charge Raghav Chaddha declared that the AAP has now become a national party and will soon replace the Congress as the country’s main opposition.
“I see AAP becoming a national force. AAP is going to be the national and natural replacement of the Congress,” Raghav Chaddha told NDTV.
“It is a tremendous day for AAP as a party because today we have become a national party. We are no longer a regional party. May the almighty bless us and Arvind Kejriwal. May he lead the nation one day,” he added.
He noted that the BJP required “far more time” than the AAP, which was created in 2012, to win two states.
AAP has passed the halfway point in the counting of ballots in Punjab, leaving the ruling Congress considerably behind.
Heavyweights such as the Congress CM face Charanjit Singh Channi and state president Navjot Singh Sidhu, former chief minister Amarinder Singh, and the Akali Dal’s Parkash Singh Badal are behind AAP candidates in the surge of support for Arvind Kejriwal’s party.
Chaddha stated that the AAP will develop a strategy to revitalise Punjab’s economy and “restore its glory.”
It is to be noted that Mann who heads the AAP’s Punjab unit, had risen to prominence after defeating Shiromani Akali Dal veteran and former union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The Aam Aadmi Party had won four seats from Punjab in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections even when there was a Modi wave all over the country. It was the party’s first-ever time to contest the general elections.
