Jalandhar: Though the Aam Aadmi Party govt has withdrawn the land pooling policy, it has left a huge trust deficit. The state govt has been facing criticism on other issues, but the move of the land pooling policy caused unprecedented damage so far.The negativity for the ruling party, especially for its top leadership, generated in rural areas will become a big challenge for the AAP to overcome. What promises of 300 units of free power and Rs 1,000 per month for women delivered positively for the AAP then, the land pooling policy appears to have done in inverse proportion now.In 24 hours after the state govt announced the withdrawal, there was an expression of relief and victory, but at the same time, apprehensions about the state govt were clearly visible, reflecting the extent of the trust deficit. There have been calls by farm leaders and activists to keep a watch on the state govt’s moves.The anger, contempt, and distrust could be easily seen from the comments on AAP’s Facebook page, especially under the posts pertaining to the announcement of the withdrawal of the policy.There were scores of comments by rural folks and Punjabi netizens that despite this withdrawal, whenever the AAP MLAs or other leaders come to the villages, they must be questioned as to who actually prepared and pushed the policy.As the opposition parties, farm groups, and several Punjabi activists and netizens repeatedly mentioned in the last two months that AAP’s central leadership was the architect of the move, ‘Dilli-walas’ are finding maximum mention, loaded with negative adjectives, in the Punjabi social media space.Ahead of the 2022 assembly election, the farm movement played a very significant role in fuelling the sentiment of ‘badlav’ (change), and now this appears to have become one of the most ridiculed references, as the rural folks have been using strong epithets in video interviews or social media posts.Questions about other promises, especially about significantly improving financial health of the state, have now started emerging with greater vigour. Pro-farm groups are also questioning failure of the state govt to release its agriculture policy.The trust deficit visible now, despite the ruling party focusing a lot on pushing its narrative through its strong social media network, is in complete contrast to the expression of great trust, almost blind faith, in AAP ahead of the 2022 assembly election.The only solace for the AAP so far is that opposition parties, especially Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal, are battling with their own issues. Neither of the two has been able to encash upon the anti-govt sentiment in the way AAP capitalised on the negativity for the old parties ahead of the 2022 election.
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