AAP throws challenge to SAD for 2017 poll
Tuesday, 10/02/2015
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/politics/aap-throws-challenge-to-sad-for-2017-poll/40082.html
Jalandhar : Confident of getting a clear majority in the Delhi Assembly poll, the results of which are to be announced tomorrow, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders have thrown a challenge to the ruling SAD for the 2017 elections in Punjab.
“Forming AAP government in Delhi means we will form government in Punjab too,” the party leaders said here today. They were reacting to SAD chief and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s statement yesterday that “AAP’s performance in Delhi would have no ramifications in Punjab”. “The Talwandi Sabo bypoll had proved that AAP has lost its impact in Punjab’s political landscape, and the Dhuri byelection will confirm it,” Sukhbir had said in Amritsar.
Himanshu Pathak, AAP’s national council member, said, “It seems Sukhbir and the Akali Dal are worried even before the announcement of the Delhi results. That is why he is giving such statements.”
Pathak said Sukhbir must not forget that when AAP had formed the government in Delhi last time, the party had 45,000 members in Punjab. “But once we came to power in the national capital, we had more than 3 lakh registered members across Punjab. A more conclusive picture can be drawn from the fact that during the Lok Sabha elections, our candidates gained lead from 34 Vidhan Sabha seats. This should already be a significant challenge for the Deputy CM,” he said.
The AAP leader quipped even CM Parkash Singh Badal had compared AAP to a bubble of water. "The people of Punjab answered him back in style, sending four of our MPs to the Lok Sabha," he said.
