Is AAP worried about losing Hindu voters to the BJP? A month after Bhagwant Mann’s address, the Punjab chapter has a new president.

Almost a month after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann called To appoint a new state president from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the party has selected Cabinet Minister Aman Arora to lead its state unit.

Also, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Batala, Amansher Singh Sheri Kalsi, has been appointed as the incumbent. The appointments come after by-elections to four Punjab assembly seats on November 20.

The decision marks a change in leadership of AAP in Punjab from Sikh to Hindu as Mann has been the state unit president of AAP since January 2019. This appears to be an attempt to prevent the loss of Hindu votes to the BJP.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, AAP received 26.2 percent of the votes. This is less than in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, in which AAP polled 42 per cent of the votes.

In contrast, the BJP’s vote share increased by 18 percent in 2024 from 6.6 percent in 2022. This is believed to be a result of Hindu voters shifting towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Last month, citing his responsibilities as party president, Mann had said that the appointment of a full-time AAP Punjab president would help strengthen the party’s organizational structure.