Delhi Assembly polls: Unfulfilled poll promises set to haunt AAP in poll season

Delhi Assembly polls: Unfulfilled promises by AAP in Punjab haunt party ahead of 2025 Delhi Assembly election, facing backlash from opposition and voters.

In the run-up to the 2025 Assembly election in Delhi, the unrealised poll promises of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government in Punjab — including providing ₹1,000 in financial assistance to women, restoring the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees, and eradicating the drugs menace and corruption — are set to haunt the AAP. Meanwhile, political parties such as the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), along with government employees from Punjab, are chalking out their plans to corner the AAP.

The AAP, which is approaching three years in power in Punjab,  is attempting to counter the Opposition’s narrative by highlighting its fulfilment of key promises, including providing 300 units of free electricity per month, establishing Aam Aadmi Clinics, and creating nearly 50,000 jobs, among others.  

Opposition parties, government employees, and farmers have accused the AAP of abandoning its pre-poll promises. During the campaigning for the 2022 State Assembly election, AAP leaders, including Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann publicly supported the procurement of twenty-two crops at minimum support price (MSP) and assured government purchases after coming to power. The AAP also promised to provide ₹1,000 in financial assistance to all women aged 18 years or older and  pledged to wipe out the drug menace from Punjab within four months of forming the government. Furthermore, while the AAP came to power in Punjab riding its key ‘anti-corruption’ plank, it now finds itself on the defensive regarding this issue as many of its leaders face a barrage of corruption charges.

The Congress party has announced that starting on January 20, their leaders from Punjab will campaign in Delhi to expose the unfulfilled promises and failures of Punjab’s AAP government. “We have set up eleven teams with senior leaders from Punjab, and starting January 20, they will campaign in Delhi for the next fortnight to expose the AAP government’s failures,” Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress party told The Hindu.

“They have failed on all fronts. In Delhi, the AAP is promising to provide ₹2,100 monthly financial assistance to women, but they (AAP) have not yet honoured their promise of ₹1,000 monthly to women in Punjab. Before the 2022 polls, AAP promised to raise ₹20,000 crore annually from mining by ending corruption; however, they now aim to raise only ₹800 crore annually, indicating a failure to curb corruption. Additionally, making Punjab a drug-free State remains a distant dream. Despite many AAP Ministers and MLAs facing corruption charges, actions against them have been nothing but an eyewash,” he said.

Government employees and pensioners who are frustrated with the AAP for not fulfilling its pre-poll promise of restoring the OPS are preparing to visit Delhi soon to mobilise public support against the AAP. “In the coming days, we will visit government offices in Delhi and even launch a door-to-door campaign to reach out to the families of government employees. We will inform them that while the AAP government announced plans to restore OPS in 2022, it has yet to be implemented. We will urge people to support only those political parties that commit to restoring OPS,” Jasvir Singh Talwara, State convener of the joint employee-pensioners front - Purani Pension Bahali Sangarsh Committee, said.

On November 18, 2022, the AAP government in Punjab issued a notification regarding the restoration of OPS. It stated that all government employees currently covered under the Defined Contributory Pension Scheme (also referred to as the National Pension System or NPS) would receive benefits under OPS; however, its implementation has yet to see the light of the day. Meanwhile, AAP maintains that it is committed to implementing OPS but cites significant financial implications of approximately ₹18,000 crore, which are held by the Union government’s Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), with no refunds forthcoming from the Centre.