Punjab Assembly Elections Results: "Punjab people have done something spectacular," Arvind Kejriwal said.
The Aam Aadmi Party heading for a sweep in Punjab with around 90 of the state's 117 seats, party chief Arvind Kejriwal today said the scale of the victory "scares" him. From 20 seats during its debut in 2017, AAP's score has shot up by more than 70 seats -- a spectacular performance that prompted a joke from senior party leader Raghav Chadha. "The Punjabis were asked to use a jhadoo (broom), but they deployed a vaccum cleaner," the party's and Punjab in-charge said.
It was left to Mr Kejriwal to administer the reality check – the victory margin, he said, was just a measure of "people's expectations".
AAP is no stranger to staggering margins and a sudden northward trajectory. The party won a massive 67 of Delhi's 70 seats in 2015 -- up from 28. In 2020, its margin shrunk just by a shade to 62.
Mr Kejriwal has promised a Delhi-style governance, with a focus on health, education and populist schemes like free power and water. But the challenges of Punjab -- especially in its rural areas -- are different, compared to Delhi which is a city state. A border state with a drug menace, security and law and order will also be major concerns in Punjab.
As the trends became clearer, senior leader Sanjay Singh announced that the primary concern of his party's government will be law and order and generating jobs.
The AAP chief congratulated Punjab, saying the people have achieved nothing short of a "revolution".
"The people Punjab have done something spectacular. This has been a huge revolution. So many huge leaders have lost... Amarinder Singh has lost, Sukhbir Badal lost, Parkash Singh Badal lost, Charanjit Channi lost, Navjot Sidhu lost, Bikram Singh Majithia lost... this is nothing short of a massive, massive revolution," he said.
This time, AAP also opened account in Goa with two seats. It is also ahead in one seat.
"We are now one of only four parties to have a government in two states. That makes us a national party. If you go from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, you will find AAP's presence everywhere," Sanjay Singh said.
"Political bigwigs don't even consider us or acknowledge our presence. But then we clean sweep them. I say this with humility that we have worked very hard for the last 10 years and our performance can be seen by all," party leader Akshay Marathe told NDTV.