BJP hopes to cash in on 3-way fight in Punjab

NEW DELHI: With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) jumping into the fray for the Punjab assembly elections slated for early next year, BJP is hoping that a three-way fight will improve the chances of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance in the state.
While the SAD-BJP alliance faces a double anti-incumbency after completing two consecutive terms, an aberration in Punjab where governments are voted out every five years, the camp thinks it is back in the game with AAP's entry.
BJP realized that the next elections would be a "tough" contest for the ruling alliance and chances of scraping through in the usual bipolar fight was very slim. But with AAP entering the scene, BJP's hopes in the state have risen.
BJP, which will go into elections in alliance with SAD, is now banking on Congress to up its stakes so that the contest is strong between AAP and Congress. "We are hoping that Congress gets stronger than it is in the state at present," a central BJP functionary said. Though many political observers feel that the Punjab contest will eliminate the third element and in this case it could be the ruling SAD-BJP combine, rendering it a fight between Congress and AAP, BJP is hoping that it turns out to be a genuine three-way contest.