Following a staggering loss in the Delhi Assembly elections—which saw the BJP return to power after 27 years—AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has scheduled a meeting with the party’s MLAs and ministers in Punjab, the sole state where AAP currently governs. This meeting, set for Tuesday, comes in the wake of allegations by state Congress leaders that nearly 30 AAP legislators have been in secret talks with them.

Punjab’s Leader of Opposition, Partap Singh Bajwa, claimed that he has maintained long-standing contact with the AAP MLAs in the state. According to him, many legislators have realized that the party’s current direction is a “one-way ticket to the moon,” suggesting that they do not plan to return. Opposition figures have even predicted that these developments could lead to a split within the AAP in Punjab and trigger a reshuffle of the state government.

Revisiting the electoral landscape, AAP had clinched power in Punjab in the 2022 Assembly elections by winning 92 out of 117 seats, unseating the Congress, which managed 18 seats, while the Shiromani Akali Dal secured three. Bajwa criticized both Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, accusing them of making grand promises in Punjab merely to win votes in 2022. He further argued that the Delhi election results signal the beginning of AAP’s decline.

There is also speculation that Kejriwal might contest from the vacant Ludhiana seat and even join the Punjab government, with some BJP leaders, including Subhash Sharma, hinting at his potential ambitions for the Chief Minister’s post in the state.

In Delhi, the electoral setback was even more severe for AAP, which won only 22 out of the 70 assembly seats in the February 5 election, effectively ending its decade-long rule. Top party figures such as Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, and other prominent leaders were defeated, with only Atishi retaining her seat.