Ludhiana West bypoll: Sunil Jakhar on AAP's 'last stand', and BJP's lone disadvantage - 'Beginning of their end'

Sunil Jakhar, currently leading the BJP's bypoll campaign in Ludhiana West, resigned as the president of the state unit eight months ago. (File/PTI)

Punjab is the Aam Aadmi Party's last remaining bastion and a defeat in the upcoming by-polls in the Ludhiana West constituency may mark the beginning of the end of AAP as a political party in 2027 when the state goes to polls to elect a new government, BJP's former Punjab president Sunil Jakhar has said.

Commenting on how the AAP is leaving no stone unturned to win the by-poll, with its entire top leadership from national convener Arvind Kejriwal to former Delhi minister Manish Sisodia and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann camping in Ludhiana, Jakhar, who is spearheading the BJP's campaign said the AAP's desperation was understandable as a loss would make it difficult for the party to find its feet again.

"Punjab is the AAP’s last stand. If they lose from Ludhiana, this will be the beginning of their end in 2027 (Assembly polls). That means they will cease to exist as a political party in a very short span of time after the Delhi Assembly poll debacle… So they will put in every effort, hook or crook, to win Ludhiana. That’s why the entire Delhi leadership is sitting in Ludhiana," Jakhar said in an interview to The Indian Express.

The bypolls to the Ludhiana West Assembly seat in Punjab will take place on June 19 and the counting will be held on June 23. The seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January.

AAP has fielded Rajya Sabha member and local industrialist Sanjeev Arora, 61, from the seat. Even before the formal announcement of the bypoll, Kejriwal and Mann had started camping in Ludhiana to campaign for Arora, who is contesting Assembly elections for the first time.

Arora was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the AAP and it is being speculated that his victory may pave for nomination of Kejriwal to the Upper House of the Parliament. Jakhar, however, differs from this view.

"Kejriwal could have easily asked any of his seven Rajya Sabha members from Punjab to resign for him, either by arm-twisting or of their own will. Except for two of them, others would have easily agreed… He didn’t need them to contest for this purpose. They have no guts to refuse… So Arora’s candidature is not for this purpose. It is a matter of common knowledge in Punjab that 80% of these Rajya Sabha nominees paid heavy amounts to the AAP to get these seats. People who had nothing to contribute to Punjab have been sent to the Rajya Sabha by the AAP," he said.

Jakhar claimed that the BJP is getting massive support in urban Ludhiana, but admitted that the announcement of Jiwan Gupta's candidature by the BJP may prove to be a disadvantage.

"The only disadvantage I think we had is that Jiwan Gupta’s name as candidate was announced a bit late. But the kind of support we saw at the roadshow (on Monday) has reassured us that the people of Punjab want to see a change because they are really fed up with the AAP," Jakhar said.

Jakhar further said that the contest in the coming bypoll is between the BJP and AAP. He said people are waiting to bring in the BJP due to the lawlessness prevailing under the AAP government.

"Since Ludhiana is dominated by the business community, they have been most affected due to this lawlessness. They have been getting ransom and extortion calls from gangsters. People are being shot dead in broad daylight," he claimed.

Asked how the BJP would fix this if it wins the seat since it is not the party in power, Jakhar said that if the party can sort out law and order issues in Uttar Pradesh, then Punjab will be child’s play.

"People in Punjab have already tried other parties. They are all involved with gangsters, goons, drug peddlers, and land mafia. Yes, a bypoll is largely considered a cakewalk for the ruling party, but that’s not the case in Punjab as people are fed up with the AAP’s corruption and lawlessness. In November last year, the AAP had even lost the Assembly bypoll from Barnala, their bastion," Jakhar told IE.

Notably, Jakhar resigned as the state unit president of Punjab eight months ago. However, the party is yet to accept his resignation. "So during this period, you can call me the party’s ‘interim president’ for Punjab till we have a new appointment. But let me clarify, I only resigned from a post, not from the BJP. I had my own reasons to step down as the Punjab president. I am very much a part of the BJP and will continue to be so," Jakhar said.