Will form govts in Punjab, Gujarat in 2027: Kejriwal

Indian Express

a day ago

Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday that the support they received during the Ludhiana West and Gujarat by-elections clearly indicates the AAP will form governments in both states in 2027 with a massive majority.
The Ludhiana and Gujarat bypolls were semi-finals for the 2027 Assembly elections, he said.
Speaking at a 'Dhanwad Sabha' in Ludhiana, expressing his party's gratitude to the voters after the Ludhiana West Assembly by-election victory, Kejriwal said, 'In Gujarat, considered a BJP stronghold, the AAP candidate won the bypoll by more than 17,000 votes. This made the BJP so furious that they immediately arrested one of our MLAs.'
'No matter how much the BJP tries to intimidate us, AAP will not be afraid. The more the BJP oppresses us, the stronger the public support will be for the AAP,' he said.
The AAP has 92 members in the 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly and four in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly.
'In the past three years, AAP has done lots of work in Punjab, and the Ludhiana West victory is the public's stamp of approval on that work,' he said.
Targeting the Congress and the BJP, Kejriwal said that they no longer had any issues of public interest left with them.
The former Delhi chief minister said, 'AAP talked about education, healthcare, roads, electricity, water, and drug de-addiction in the Ludhiana West by-election, but opposition parties harped only on one thing that Kejriwal should not be allowed to go to the Rajya Sabha.'
'They spread a rumour that Kejriwal wants to go to the Rajya Sabha only to mislead the public. Immediately after the pypoll result, I held a press conference and made it clear that I won't go to the Rajya Sabha,' Kejriwal said.
'The BJP and the Congress are colluding with each other. Just like in Delhi, both parties are jointly opposing AAP in Punjab, too,' he alleged.
Accusing the previous Congress and Akali-BJP governments of 'proliferation of drugs' in Punjab, Kejriwal said, 'Both governments ruined the youths by trapping them in drug addiction, while the AAP government launched a war against drugs, and strict action is being taken against drug peddlers and they are being sent to jail.'