- Images from Patiala show police lathi-charge on protesting apprenticeship linemen
- In 2021, Arvind Kejriwal supported physical training instructors protesting for jobs
- AAP's 2022 election win was boosted by support from protesting employees and youth
The images from Patiala on June 5 stood in sharp contrast to one of the defining moments of the Aam Aadmi Party's rise in Punjab. As police resorted to a lathi-charge on protesting apprenticeship linemen outside the PSPCL and PSTCL headquarters, leaving more than 20 injured, it revived memories of November 2021 when Arvind Kejriwal personally visited a protest site in Mohali to meet agitating Physical Training Instructors.
At the time, Sippy Sharma, a leader of the Physical Training Instructors' Union, along with two others, had been protesting atop an overhead water tank for 47 days, demanding appointments. Kejriwal arrived at the site as part of AAP's outreach to agitating employees and unemployed youth. Speaking through a loudspeaker and referring to Sharma as his "sister", he urged her to end the protest and assured her that appointment letters for physical training instructors would be a priority once AAP formed the government. After nearly an hour of persuasion, Sharma climbed down amid applause from supporters and onlookers.
The episode became symbolic of AAP's promise to stand with those protesting for jobs, regularisation and better working conditions. It was a message that resonated across Punjab and contributed significantly to the party's sweeping victory in the 2022 Assembly elections.
The goodwill was visible immediately after the election. On his first day at the Punjab Civil Secretariat, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann received a rousing welcome from government employees, with loud applause greeting his arrival. For many employees, AAP represented a break from the past and the hope that long-pending demands would finally be addressed.
Four years later, however, the political mood appears more complicated.
The recent agitation by apprenticeship linemen demanding recruitment as assistant linemen culminated in police action after protesters blocked entry points to the PSPCL-PSTCL headquarters in Patiala. The incident has provided the Opposition with ammunition to question the government's handling of employee and youth protests.
The linemen's agitation is only one among several challenges confronting the government. More than 1,800 outsourced Sewa Kendra employees have been on strike demanding better wages. Safai Sewaks have warned of renewed protests if assurances regarding wage revisions are not fulfilled. Government employees continue to press for pending dearness allowance arrears, while contractual and outsourced workers remain dissatisfied over regularisation and salary-related issues.
What makes these protests politically significant is that many of these groups were among AAP's most enthusiastic supporters before the 2022 elections. The party built its campaign around engaging with agitating employees, teachers and unemployed youth who felt ignored by previous governments.
With Assembly elections due early next year, the Bhagwant Mann government has launched a firefighting exercise through negotiations, recruitment announcements and outreach to employee unions. Yet the challenge remains substantial. The contrast between Kejriwal persuading Sippy Sharma to descend from a water tank and police dispersing protesters outside the PSPCL headquarters captures the political journey of a party that once thrived on protest politics and now finds itself navigating the pressures of governance.
How effectively AAP addresses the concerns of these groups in the coming months could play a crucial role in determining whether it retains the trust of the constituencies that helped propel it to power.
