Arvind Kejriwal To Replace Bhagwant Mann As Punjab CM? Delhi Poll Outcome Spells Trouble For AAP

Punjab Politics: The crushing defeat of the Aam Aadmi Party and its key leaders in Delhi has put a question mark on the future strategy of the party. While loss and win for a political party is part of the election process, what is creating chaos within the AAP ranks is the defeat of Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi seat against BJP's Parvesh Verma. While AAP's Delhi unit is now working to prepare its plan as an opposition party in Delhi for the first time, the poll results appear to have a huge repercussion on its Punjab unit where the AAP is in power under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann is in Delhi to attend the meeting called by AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Arvind Kejriwal called a meeting with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and MLAs who were campaigning in different areas for the Delhi elections. The meeting has fuelled different speculations.

The Congress and the BJP have made two different claims. While Congress claimed that around three dozen AAP MLAs in Punjab are in touch with the party, the BJP said that Kejriwal, after losing polls in Delhi, is now planning to replace Mann as Punjab CM.  Another claim is doing rounds that Mann, along with majority of MLAs may rebel against Kejriwal and join the BJP, just like Eknath Shinde did in Maharashtra.

What Congress Leaders Claim

Former Punjab deputy chief minister and senior Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa claimed that AAP MLAs are in touch with other parties. "Several of their MLAs are in contact with different parties. They will fall in such a manner that many will leave," Randhawa said.

Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa claimed that more than 30 AAP MLAs in Punjab are in touch with Congress. 

BJP's CM Change Claim

The newly-elected BJP MLA from West Delhi's Rajouri Garden Manjinder Singh Sirsa claimed that Kejriwal might sideline Mann and become the CM of Punjab. "It is being said that Kejriwal will declare Bhagwant Mann inefficient by highlighting that he has not fulfilled promises like Rs 1,000 each for women and controlling drug abuse. Then he will take charge himself...He is making AAP Punjab MLAs say that Kejriwal is a ‘good man’ and should be made Chief Minister instead," Sirsa claimed. 

After losing the Delhi elections, Arvind Kejriwal has called a meeting of Punjab MLAs in Delhi. Reports suggest that he is trying to remove @BhagwantMann Ji from the CM post by branding him as incompetent.

He failed to fulfill his promise of giving 1000 to women, was… pic.twitter.com/PJ5k3ttZ4E — Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) February 10, 2025

BJP's national general secretary Tarun Chugh claimed on Monday that the "countdown for Bhagwant Mann's government has already started".

AAP Refutes Claims

AAP leaders took note of these claims and dismissed them saying that opposition parties are daydreaming. AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang responded sharply to the Congress party's remarks, saying, "Bajwa sahib is dreaming impossible dreams -- just like 'Mungerilal ke sapne' that will never come true. Even his own brother has joined the BJP."

AAP's 2022 Victory In Punjab

The AAP secured a landslide victory in the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls, winning 92 of the 117 seats. However, with Punjab being the only state where the party is in power following its poll defeat Delhi and a poor show in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the AAP faces increasing scrutiny over its internal cohesion and governance.