On Wednesday, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann announced a plethora of development schemes in the Cabinet Meeting which was held in Jalandhar for the first time. Punjab CM Mann called a cabinet meeting under 'Sarkar Tuhade Dwar' for the first time in Jalandhar after AAP's candidate Sushil Rinku had won Lok Sabha Byelection and broke the Congress' stronghold. Even before Sushil Rinku's oath-taking ceremony, Bhawant Mann kept him during the press conference and even during the meeting. CM Mann had called the meeting after Jalandhar MP-elect Sushil Rinku met him and AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal after his record-breaking victory and presented the roadmap of development of Jalandhar's constituency including Doaba. The clear vision and road map presented by Sushil Rinku made Punjab CM Mann call for an immediate cabinet meeting and in that he announced that the State Government has already released almost Rs 100 core (Rs 95.16 crore exact) for the Jalandhar beautification project.
Sushil Rinku's victory in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha Byelection 2023 has made him AAP's biggest leader of the Doaba area which is a Dalit-dominated area. Doaba consists of 42 percent of Dalit voters. For the unaware, there are four districts in Doaba namely- Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Kapurthala, and Hoshiarpur. The four districts entirely constitute Doaba. Sushil Rinku's victory in the by-poll has made him a big leader of the Dalit community. Notably, AAP did not have any big Dalit leader and the victory of Rinku has filled the Aam Aadmi Party with confidence and it believes that the MP-elect can also woo voters in Hoshiarpur. During the 2022 election, AAP did not perform well in Doaba. AAP's government came to power after winning in the Malwa and Majha.
However, with Sushil Rinku's massive victory in the Jalandhar Bypoll, AAP has given him a free hand to work on the development and other factors in the Doaba region. AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Mann, and RInku's meeting with AAP General Secretary Sandeep Pathak hint that the party is baking big on Sushil Rinku in order to bolster its footprint in the Doaba region. This will also bolster AAP for the upcoming 2024 General Election. Notably, it is also being said that to keep up the winning momentum, the AAP government can make the announcement of elections of four big municipal corporations- Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, and Amritsar. If the election of MCs takes place and AAP wins it then the party will establish its footprint more in the state. This will help the party once the 2024 General Election arrives.
Punjab CM who kept newly elected MP Sushil Rinky beside during the announcement of the Jalandhar beautification project and amping up the speed of developments, it shows that Sushil Winku will have a major say in the developments schemes of Jalandhar. Apart from this, Rinku will have a say in the distribution of tickets for the upcoming elections of the Municipal Corporations.
As per patty sources, Sushil Rinku will also be responsible to improve the image of the party as he possesses a clean image as a lawmaker. Therefore, with the inclusion of Sushil Rinku in the core group of AAP, it will help the party in the entire Doaba region.