THE Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has lived up to its broom logo by sweeping up a three-fourths seat majority in the recently concluded Punjab assembly election.
The state polls also spelt humiliation for two of India's oldest parties — the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
The AAP was formed in 2012, whereas the INC part of the United Progressive Alliance was formed in 1885, and the SAD in 1920.
Since the 1st Punjab Legislative Assembly Election in 1952, it has always been a two-horse race involving INC and SAD, either which ruled the state or were in opposition. INC/allies governed Punjab on seven occasions since 1957, whereas SAD/allies did so on six occasions.
It will be the first time when neither INC nor SAD will rule the land of five rivers.
The fall of two traditional parties in the agriculture-rich state also saw respective party heavyweights biting the dust.
It includes outgoing Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and his predecessor, Captain Amarinder Singh.
Other big guns who lost are INC's Punjab chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, a former cricketer and three-term member of parliament who was bowled out in the Amritsar East constituency.
Punjab's most prominent political family — the Badal family — will also be missing from the assembly after three decades. Nearly all members who contested had lost.
The casualties include 94-year-old patriarch and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, his son and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal. Others are senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, the brother-in-law of Sukhbir Badal; and Parkash Badal's nephew Manpreet Singh Badal, finance minister in the outgoing Congress government.
The last time the Badals were out of the assembly was during the 1992 elections, when SAD boycotted state polls.
The decade-old AAP or the Common Man's Party carried the Sikh-majority state by garnering 92 seats up from the 20 seats it held previously in the 117 unicameral state assembly.
The INC lost 41 seats, winning only 18 seats, whereas SAD won three seats compared to the 12 it held before the polls. And the Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won two seats only compared to its previous three.
The Times of India credited AAP's capture of the state to stitching together a successful campaign centred on its call for change in the wake of widespread disillusionment with traditional parties.
It adds that by announcing Bhagwant Singh Mann as its chief ministerial face, this has also led to the Delhi-born party consolidating its vote share in the crucial regions of Punjab.
"AAP promised to weed out sand and liquor mafia, replicate the Delhi Model by providing better health and educational infrastructure.
"The party sensed an opportunity with the key rival parties in disarray. The Congress was marred by internal strife and SAD was still struggling to regain its traditional vote share," said the largest selling English-language daily in the world."
AAP's victory also defied opinion polls in the run-up to the state election, which said that the race is too close to call and is likely to lead to a hung assembly with no clear winners.
Exit polls, despite giving the nod for AAP, were nevertheless conservative in their estimate. The polls also painted an over-optimistic estimation of seats likely to be won by INC and SAD.
The Economic Times said AAP had conducted a well-crafted campaign, an election manifesto which made promises implemented in Delhi, which it rules, and the sentiment of "let's sweep clean this time" helped propel it to a landslide victory in Punjab.
"The party began identifying issues on the ground. Volunteers studied the water and power issues that had helped it in Delhi. They found that though Punjab had enough electricity, it was the most expensive and supply was erratic. The youth was educated, but did not have jobs. Short dipstick opinion polls showed there was a positive recall for the Delhi model of education, especially training modules for entrepreneurship," said the English-language business daily.
For Bhagwant, a former actor, comedian and satirist turned politician, leading and running Punjab will not be something to be laughed about.
He faces issues such as fixing the state's economy, which faces an empty treasury, debts and falling per capita income as well as trade monopolisation.
A poster boy of the green revolution, the state of five rivers is facing an agrarian crisis as well as unemployment, drug problem as well as transborder smuggling.
The writer is NST's news editor