The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) senior leader Raghav Chadha claimed Thursday that the party will soon become the “natural and national alternative” to the Congress, while AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal will become the principal challenger to the BJP.

Expressing his happiness over the party’s landslide victory in Punjab, Chadha said: “Today, the AAP has come on national stage and it has emerged as a national force.” Claiming that it will also win the 2027 Assembly polls, he added, “Like, in Delhi, the people voted for AAP’s government by electing Arvind Kejriwal. Now in all elections, the public of Delhi say ‘I love you, Kejriwal’. In the same way, the people of Punjab have voted for AAP once and I am confident that the people of Punjab in every election will say ‘I love you, Bhagwant Mann’ and ‘I love you, Arvind Kejriwal’. The people will forget all these traditional parties and leaders and their shops will stand shut.”

Referring to the AAP’s defeat in the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Chadha – who is also the party’s national spokesperson – said, “victory is sweetest when you get it after a defeat”.

“The people of Punjab have voted for the jodi of Bhagwat Mann and Arvind Kejriwal. They have stamped for the Kejriwal model of governance. God has blessed us with a big victory. The Guru Maharaj has blessed us. We have to do a lot of work for the people of Punjab. AAP govt will work for all, for those who have voted for us and for those who have not voted for us. We hope for a progressive government in the leadership of Bhagwant Mann,” the MLA from New Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar said.

“The AAP creates a social security net for the people in which the common man gets electricity, water, education and healthcare as required for an honourable life. The people have stamped for election promises of AAP,” he added.

Even as party supporters danced to the beats of dhols in front of the AAP’s Chandigarh office, Chadha raised slogans like “Bhagwat Mann ki soch pe-pehra denga dok ke” and “Jadu wala dee balle…balle”. “We seek blessings of God to give us so much strength that we run an honest government and serve the people of Punjab,” he said, adding, “this victory is not less than a miracle”.

In reply to a question related to the wishes extended by Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, Chadha said, “We accept the wishes of all. See how beautiful is democracy that an honest and educated woman Jeevan Jyot Kaur has defeated two political ‘elephants’ who crushed the public under their feet.” In a keenly contested election, AAP candidate Kaur beat Sidhu and SAD’s Bikram Singh Majithia in the Amritsar East constituency.

Taking on the traditional leaders of Punjab, Chadha said, “These leaders used to call me ‘chhota sa bacha’ (a small kid) questioning ‘what I will do’. They used to say ‘we have been in politics for the past 60-70 years and are MLAs and ministers for the past 25-30 years.’ I used to say that time too that ‘we are aam aadmi of the country’. And when aam aadmi stands up, it topples the biggest persons. Today the sinhasan (chair of power) of bigwigs has shaken and small children like me have… brought them down from their chariot and the aam aadmi has been seated in it,” he said.

Asked about his next responsibility in the state, he said, “I was given the responsibility of the Punjab polls only… my responsibility has ended now”.