How does one even begin to understand a verdict as massive as 92 seats in a house of 117 legislators? As the two traditional parties, both more than a century old, fell by the wayside, and a rank outsider rode to power riding a wave of anger, alienation and vengeance, Punjab needs to grapple with some serious questions about body polity.

Electoral politics in Punjab has long been shorn of ideological dimensions, but now there is a party in power whose claim to fame is the absence of ideology.

With rhetoric like “working for the people” and |building a new India”, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party runs its politics in ways agnostic to legacy, heritage or anything resembling ‘Punjabiyat’.

In a world so completely dedicated to the pursuit of materialism, was it inevitable that Punjabis align their political fortunes to the politics of plain transactions: free electricity units, guaranteed service delivery and Kejriwal's guarantees, whatever those might be worth?

This debate, anchored by Senior Journalist SP Singh, is an effort in understanding this 92/117 verdict and the concomitant challenges, implications and future portents.

The conversation features senior journalist Hamir Singh, historian, former AAP leader Dr Sumail Singh Sidhu and academician-commentator Harjeshwar Pal Singh, and seeks to explore if politics has decisively moved from political agendas to a depoliticised transactional relationship of power with people?

Panellists grapple with many aspects, including regional aspirations, the decimation of established parties, and the wholesale seemingly grudge vote for “badlaav”.

 Read also: Understanding 92/117 & Decoding Badlaav - Kisan Andolan, Depoliticised Politics & a Punjab in search of an Inquilab

Still more pertinent questions: How will the panthic concerns and Punjab’s legacy issues be addressed by this new dispensation, and how will parties like the Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress now find their relevance in the new milieu?

 Read also: Shiromani Akali Dal: Where did the party lose the plot?

For how long will this Arvind Kejriwal work-from-home strategy work wherein he will try to run the party via remote control from Delhi, or will a Punjab AAP emerge from within its ranks to guard, speak up for and own the turf called Punjab, Punjabi, Punjabiyat?