Despite Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerging victorious in the recently held Punjab Assembly elections, opposition parties seemed quite reluctant to congratulate any leader on their achievement.
More than 48 hours have passed since the AAP toppled the Congress government in Punjab, and fought strong state parties like the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) as well as a national party like the BJP. But opposition leaders including DMK chief MK Stalin, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and others are in no mood to send a message to the party and its members. On the contrary, the face of BJP and Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi tweeted a congratulatory message to Kejriwal.
While the AAP, considered a new party in Punjab, was celebrating its victory, here are some of the opposition leaders – who sent congratulatory messages to Mamata Banerjee on winning the Bengal assembly elections – were doing.
Mamata BanerjeeWest Bengal CM Trinamool Congress, which could not get a single seat in the Goa assembly elections simultaneously, rejected the victory of BJP in Uttar Pradesh. Banerjee, who campaigned for Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party in UP, said the BJP’s historic victory in the state was not a mandate, but was achieved with the help of “the election machinery and central forces and agencies”. There was no mention of AAP or Arvind Kejriwal in any of his remarks that day.
KC Chandrasekhar Rao: The TRS leader and Telangana Chief Minister also did not comment on the victory. He was discharged from the hospital the same day after some health problems. In this regard, it should be noted that it was he and Banerjee who first talked of a Third Front to topple the BJP government at the Centre, while giving it greater ability to rule for the next five years.
Pinarayi Vijayan: The Left stalwart, who created history by winning the Kerala Assembly elections last year and enjoyed the support of all opposition leaders, did not comment on AAP’s victory. Instead, Vijayan tweeted about the inauguration of a bridge in Kerala.
MK Stalin: Like his other counterparts, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader MK Stalin also remained silent on the news. Instead, he inaugurated a three-day conference with district collectors, superintendents of police and forest officials in Chennai that day.
The silence of these leaders came in stark contrast to their uproar when Mamata Banerjee won the assembly elections in Bengal by a huge margin. All these leaders including Kejriwal had praised Banerjee for her victory.
However, the only opposition leader to support AAP was Sharad Pawar of the NCP. Describing AAP as a national party, the leader tweeted, “Punjab is the closest state to Delhi. Hence the impact of Delhi’s work was felt in Punjab as well.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also retained the formality of congratulating AAP on its victory. He said, ‘I want to congratulate AAP for winning the Punjab elections. I assure all possible help from the Center for the welfare of Punjab.”
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