Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi courted controversy when he spoke about keeping 'bhaiyas' – a reference to people belonging to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar – out of Punjab, during a recent election address. The remarks, which immediately resulted in a furore, represented an attempt by Channi and the Congress to project the Aam Aadmi Party as a party of outsiders.
In the fag end of campaigning for the assembly elections in Punjab, in which the exchange of barbs between the Congress and its main rival, the AAP, is getting more frequent and fiercer by the day, the ruling party has zeroed in on a strategy that projects the the AAP as a non-Punjabi party that is led by leaders like Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who do not have moorings in the state.
While Channi's remarks were criticised by his political opponents for being divisive and unkind to migrants from UP and Bihar who work in the state, his real targets were Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP. Kejriwal has been leading the AAP campaign, and is the face of his party's electioneering for all practical purposes despite the declaration of Bhagwant Singh Mann as the party's chief ministerial face. The Congress' strategy now is to highlight the preeminence of Kejriwal, a non-Punjabi, in the campaign. In the previous assembly election, while Kejriwal enjoyed immense popularity in the state, it is believed that the people were not ready to accept him as a potential chief minister. Besides, non-Punjabis such as Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak had played an important role in the AAP's electioneering, which had not gone down well either with the party's own state unit or the voters.
Channi is seeking to appeal to the same sentiment when he talks about not letting people from UP, Bihar and Delhi get a foot in in the state. Also, part of the Congress' strategy is highlighting the alleged failures of the Kejriwal government in providing good governance in Delhi.
The double-pronged attack thus focuses on painting the AAP as an outsider in Punjab and trying to convince the people that the AAP's election promises or the talk about the Delhi model of governance cannot be accepted at face value.
The feedback from the ground that guides this strategy is that Kejriwal enjoys high credibility among the electorate and the Delhi model of governance is being talked about. Hence, the fierce attack by the Congress, seeking to puncture the two most important components of the AAP campaign. It is another matter that Channi has ended up sounding divisive and has had to issue a clarification.
