Viral Sach: Did AAP celebrate Punjab 'victory' even before election results

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party's hope of catapulting itself to the national stage and emerge as an alternative to the BJP and the Congress suffered a setback after the party ended a distant second in Punjab and failed to open its account in Goa. Now, a video of AAP leaders ‘celebrating’ their ‘victory’ in Punjab, even before the results were out, has gone viral on social media. The widely shared clip shows AAP senior leader Sanjay Singh and other party members singing and celebrating the party’s 'victory' in the assembly elections. Those who shared the video on internet claimed that the clip was shot on March 11, the day of results. "See how AAP started celebrating even before results were declared. No doubt, the mandate didn't give them a chance to rejoice," a user said. Reacting to the video, Sanjay Singh clarified that the video was old and taken on February 4 after voting ended. He said that party members, after a hectic schedule of campaigning in Punjab, were cracking jokes to enjoy their time. “This is not a 'Talibani' party. We have the freedom to laugh and joke. No other meaning should be derived out of the clip,” he said. AAP finished second with 20 seats in Punjab Assembly elections. Several of its top guns in the state bit the dust. AAP's campaign committee incharge and party MP Bhagwant Mann, party convener Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi, journalist-turned- politician Jarnail Singh, legal cell incharge Himmat Singh Shergill and Dr Balbir Singh lost in the polls.