Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said yesterday the people of the city have given birth to a new brand of electoral politics – “the politics of development.”
Addressing a huge crowd at Delhi’s historic Ram Leela ground immediately after he was sworn in as chief minister for the third time, Kejriwal said the future electoral politics in the country will be based on the development plank. 
“Delhiites, you have given birth to a new brand of politics – the politics of performance, of setting up schools, healthcare facilities, providing water, power, and women’s security.”
Kejriwal also extended an olive branch to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government, indicating his eagerness to work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Delhi’s development.
“I had invited the prime minister to today’s event, but he could not make it. I seek his blessings for Delhi’s progress and development,” the chief minister said, indicating his intention to let bygones be bygones.
Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi party AAP and the BJP had fought a bitter battle in the run-up to the assembly polls held on February 8.
Kejriwal’s speech also hinted at his national ambitions.
“When every Indian gets security, health, education and employment only then will the Tricolour flutter proudly.” 
Later AAP legislator Somnath Bharti claimed people were demanding that the party should go nationwide and it would not disappoint them.
“They are demanding us to go pan-India and we will not disappoint them,” Bharti said.
Bharati was the law minister in Kejriwal’s last government and is considered close to AAP’s top leadership.
Pressing on AAP’s developmental agenda, Bharti attributed the landslide victory in Delhi elections to the initiative in sectors like education, health and other basic issues.
“We have worked well on basic amenities, I myself issued guarantee cards in my constituency to make sure my announcements were met with ground work,” Bharti said.
Meanwhile, talks of the party expanding its model to Punjab in the 2022 assembly polls have already begun.
Speaking to IANS, AAP’s Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann said the issues which Delhi has faced in the past several decades were also being faced in Punjab.
“The governments in Punjab have ignored the common man and their issues. It is time that the Delhi model should be implemented in the state,” Mann said.
He said he will be happy if the Delhi model is implemented in Punjab also. “The mandate the AAP received in Delhi was because of the hard work it has done in the last five years.”
On new additions in the party, Mann said anyone who wishes to work for nation-building can join the AAP.
“The party will welcome all those who will be ready for working for Punjab to make it a better state. Those who are ready to work for this vision without any conditions and greed are welcome in the party.”
The AAP emerged as the second largest party in Punjab in the 2017 assembly polls. It is now the main opposition in the state.
Leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema, said the party was yet to plan for the expansion.
“We will be planning in the coming months the expansion of the party in Punjab. The AAP model of governance is loved by people across the country,” Cheema told IANS.
“The Congress and BJP have ruled for so many years, but they have failed to make this impression among the people that Kejriwal and his government has made in just five years.”
He said while the AAP worked for people, the other parties worked for “making money” and “looting people”.
He added that “while other parties are trying to divide the people, AAP is not just uniting them, but also making their lives easy.” 
Related Story