Something interesting happened recently. Almost all newspapers in Punjab published a photograph of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann together with Punjab Legislative Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, a detailed story suggesting that the two had cleared up certain misunderstandings between them arising from what was said to be a "communication gap."
This was the second meeting between Mann and Sandhwan in the recent past. The first meeting between the two took place after the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected AAP legislator Mohinder Bhagat, who won the Jalandhar West by-election.
Mann personally led the campaign for the by-election, and credit goes to him for ensuring AAP's victory by his almost permanent presence there.
The second meeting between Mann and Sandhwan was reportedly held at the Chief Minister’s official residence in Chandigarh, facilitated by senior party leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh.
While Mann did not comment on the meeting, Sandhwan was quoted by some newspapers as saying it was "routine" and he had just dropped in to meet the Chief Minister and Sanjay Singh. He also denied there being any problems of communication gap between him and Mann.
There appears to be clear reason and intent behind the circulation of photographs showing the Chief Minister and the Speaker sharing apparent bonhomie.
And it was obvious that the news about their meeting was released and circulated at the behest of the ruling party. As it is, AAP has a stronghold over the media in Punjab and takes due care in what goes out in print and the public domain.
While news stories did clarify that all was well with the AAP, at the same time these also “confirmed authoritatively” that something was certainly amiss within the ruling party, which could have spiralled into a major crisis.
It seems to have been controlled at least for the time being.
With AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal still in jail, the party cannot afford an additional crisis in Punjab, where it has a comfortable 3/4th majority in the legislative assembly.
The emphatic victory in the Jalandhar West by-election has to a great extent neutralised the negative impact of the poor show in the General Elections.
For AAP, however, it's a problem of plenty in Punjab. It had won 92 seats in 2022. Right now it has 91 MLAs, as Barnala MLA Meet Hayer resigned after getting elected to Parliament from the Sangrur parliamentary constituency. Taking along such a huge flock is no ordinary task.
Moreover, people had high expectations of AAP because of the promises it made before forming the government. However, except for 300 free units of power every month to every household, with a rider that full charges apply in case of consumption of more than 300 units, AAP has not done anything else.
It is yet to fulfill its promise of giving Rs 1,000 to every woman in the state.
Such promises notwithstanding, there is a tradition in Punjab where the ruling party usually gets a drubbing in Parliamentary elections. One of the reasons could be that Parliamentary elections take place during the mid-term of the state government. At that time disillusioned people in most cases outnumber the satisfied ones.
The consequences were obvious as the AAP lost 10 of the 13 Parliamentary segments.
These results had raised the questions about Mann's leadership and fuelled various speculations, which apparently led to a “misunderstanding” between him and the Speaker, which, it's being claimed, has been sorted out.
Mann has, meanwhile, managed to redeem his party’s and his own personal image by leading from the front and ensuring an emphatic and phenomenal victory in the Jalandhar West by-election.
Also, the Parliamentary election result cannot be taken as the sole criterion for leadership change.
Punjab's performance was better than other states as AAP won three Lok Sabha seats from there. In other places AAP drew a blank for the third consecutive time in a row.
Above all, Mann, over a period, has assumed a larger persona and stature. With Kejriwal in jail, he has been managing to fill the vacuum with his outstanding oratorical skills.
After Kejriwal, he remains the prime bet for the party, anywhere and everywhere.
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