Now that the 2014 Lok Sabha elections are over, it is time for Aam Aadmi Party to reflect on what it did well and what it could learn from and improve for the future. AAP is a people’s movement for clean politics and has come as a long way in a year and a half. But it has to go a long way and need to keep learning and improving.

Aam Aadmi Party – led by Arvind Kejriwal, which started its career with the formation of Delhi Government could survive only for 49 days and thought of contesting at the national level during the Lok Sabha elections and was looking as a day-dreaming at the first instance. It was difficult to give a tough fight to the national level political parties – Congress and BJP. We can now say easily that it was too early to have such a big dream especially when it could not get, what to say of majority even for making a opposition.

AAP could not establish its impact in any of the state except in Punjab where it bagged four seats – Dharam Vira Gandhi (Patiala), Bhagwat Mann (Sangrur) and Sadhu Singh (Faridkot) – all first timers – and Harjinder Singh Khalsa (Fatehgarh Sahib). It was a great set back to the AAP.

Three of the four MPs are first timers who, the party thinks, need to learn and understand the nitty-gritty of the Lok Sabha rules. The fourth has served a brief term and will be attending both as a trainee and a trainer since much has changed after 1996, when he was first elected on the Akali Dal ticket.

Punjab gave AAP all the four seats that India’s newest political party won in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. The AAP, which was hoping to replicate is success in last December’s Delhi assembly election, however, came a cropper. It fielded some 440 candidates. In Delhi, the party failed to win even a single seat where it won 28 seats in assembly polls and went on to form the government with the outside support of the Congress.

The PPP party led by Manpreet Badal stands rejected in Punjab and in the present circumstances, AAP has better chances to show its worth and it must concentrate on Punjab which has the only impact of the party in getting four seats in Lok Sabha elections.

At the same time, the BJP alliance with SAD in Punjab is also at the verge of separation in view of the formation of BJP led government at the Centre and having a poor show in the Punjab as alliance. It is said that BJP without any alliance can show better results.

According to Rahul Sinha, President of West Bengal BJP Unit has to shake hand with Bhartiya Janata Party besides showing consent of merging of other political parties. There are also indication of joining of Pardeep Goswami, Congress leader with the BJP.

More-over, there is a difference of opinion among the leaders of AAP within the party. No doubt, Kejriwal is trying to bring back the annoyed leaders in the party like Shajia Ilmi, Yogender Yadav, Manish Sisodia but its future looks to be dark with the present result of Lok Sabha elections.

The proverb – Out of the frying pan into the fire – fits well when after winning near majority seats in Delhi Assembly elections could not establish its identity in the Lok Sabha elections. What to say of getting good number of seats in the Lok Sabha elections for making niche to contest in the Assembly elections, Kejriwal himself could not win. It looks that he was over confident of the AAP wave in the country which could not stand before the Modi wave.

On the other hand, BJP leaders are still speaking with a suppressed voice on the issue of governance like giving free power to all farmers. Saying that the “poor must get the freebies; not the well-off”, clearly speaks of establishing its identity in the coming Assembly elections.

If the AAP could merge with BJP in West Bengal then why not in Punjab, who have won four seats on the symbol of Jharu – Broom, to stand against the SAD. The other alternative for the Aam Aadmi Party could be come up as ‘Third Front’.

Let us see it otherwise, if Aam Aadmi Party can succeed in Punjab, it will have a good chance of succeeding elsewhere.. What works in its favour is tht Punjab is a small state and its people are already disenchanted with the power structures. There will soon be by-polls for three Assembly seats and the next Assembly election is in 2017. But Aam Aadmi Party should not waste time because if it does well again in Punjab, the good word of mouth will travel fast.

I had already cleared in one of my write-ups that Third Front concept needs more thought to establish its identity to have say ahead of the elections, with more common agendas combating corruption and communalism, the gaps in its ranks attracted more attention with particular mention of issues on fighting “communal forces” and floor cooperation in Parliament, to make a matured platform.

Frankly speaking, the track could be easy with the support of BJP for the Third Front and it will be a trial for the BJP to contest independently during the coming Assembly elections against the Shiromani Akali Dal. And what SAD will do to maintain the alliance, could also be beyond one’s imagination – like offering the key posts to BJP leaders or berths in the ministry.

Only the time will tell, which way the wind blows as there is a sufficient to make a strategy for contesting the elections in Punjab. But, AAP and BJP have to apply their minds very carefully before taking any drastic step.

In Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party could come up as Third Front

Now that the 2014 Lok Sabha elections are over, it is time for Aam Aadmi Party to reflect on what it did well and what it could learn from and improve for the future. AAP is a people’s movement for clean politics and has come as a long way in a year and a half. But it has to go a long way and need to keep learning and improving.

Aam Aadmi Party – led by Arvind Kejriwal, which started its career with the formation of Delhi Government could survive only for 49 days and thought of contesting at the national level during the Lok Sabha elections and was looking as a day-dreaming at the first instance. It was difficult to give a tough fight to the national level political parties – Congress and BJP. We can now say easily that it was too early to have such a big dream especially when it could not get, what to say of majority even for making a opposition.

AAP could not establish its impact in any of the state except in Punjab where it bagged four seats – Dharam Vira Gandhi (Patiala), Bhagwat Mann (Sangrur) and Sadhu Singh (Faridkot) – all first timers – and Harjinder Singh Khalsa (Fatehgarh Sahib). It was a great set back to the AAP.

Three of the four MPs are first timers who, the party thinks, need to learn and understand the nitty-gritty of the Lok Sabha rules. The fourth has served a brief term and will be attending both as a trainee and a trainer since much has changed after 1996, when he was first elected on the Akali Dal ticket.

Punjab gave AAP all the four seats that India’s newest political party won in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. The AAP, which was hoping to replicate is success in last December’s Delhi assembly election, however, came a cropper. It fielded some 440 candidates. In Delhi, the party failed to win even a single seat where it won 28 seats in assembly polls and went on to form the government with the outside support of the Congress.

The PPP party led by Manpreet Badal stands rejected in Punjab and in the present circumstances, AAP has better chances to show its worth and it must concentrate on Punjab which has the only impact of the party in getting four seats in Lok Sabha elections.

At the same time, the BJP alliance with SAD in Punjab is also at the verge of separation in view of the formation of BJP led government at the Centre and having a poor show in the Punjab as alliance. It is said that BJP without any alliance can show better results.

According to Rahul Sinha, President of West Bengal BJP Unit has to shake hand with Bhartiya Janata Party besides showing consent of merging of other political parties. There are also indication of joining of Pardeep Goswami, Congress leader with the BJP.

More-over, there is a difference of opinion among the leaders of AAP within the party. No doubt, Kejriwal is trying to bring back the annoyed leaders in the party like Shajia Ilmi, Yogender Yadav, Manish Sisodia but its future looks to be dark with the present result of Lok Sabha elections.

The proverb – Out of the frying pan into the fire – fits well when after winning near majority seats in Delhi Assembly elections could not establish its identity in the Lok Sabha elections. What to say of getting good number of seats in the Lok Sabha elections for making niche to contest in the Assembly elections, Kejriwal himself could not win. It looks that he was over confident of the AAP wave in the country which could not stand before the Modi wave.

On the other hand, BJP leaders are still speaking with a suppressed voice on the issue of governance like giving free power to all farmers. Saying that the “poor must get the freebies; not the well-off”, clearly speaks of establishing its identity in the coming Assembly elections.

If the AAP could merge with BJP in West Bengal then why not in Punjab, who have won four seats on the symbol of Jharu – Broom, to stand against the SAD. The other alternative for the Aam Aadmi Party could be come up as ‘Third Front’.

Let us see it otherwise, if Aam Aadmi Party can succeed in Punjab, it will have a good chance of succeeding elsewhere.. What works in its favour is tht Punjab is a small state and its people are already disenchanted with the power structures. There will soon be by-polls for three Assembly seats and the next Assembly election is in 2017. But Aam Aadmi Party should not waste time because if it does well again in Punjab, the good word of mouth will travel fast.

I had already cleared in one of my write-ups that Third Front concept needs more thought to establish its identity to have say ahead of the elections, with more common agendas combating corruption and communalism, the gaps in its ranks attracted more attention with particular mention of issues on fighting “communal forces” and floor cooperation in Parliament, to make a matured platform.

Frankly speaking, the track could be easy with the support of BJP for the Third Front and it will be a trial for the BJP to contest independently during the coming Assembly elections against the Shiromani Akali Dal. And what SAD will do to maintain the alliance, could also be beyond one’s imagination – like offering the key posts to BJP leaders or berths in the ministry.

Only the time will tell, which way the wind blows as there is a sufficient to make a strategy for contesting the elections in Punjab. But, AAP and BJP have to apply their minds very carefully before taking any drastic step.