NEW DELHI: The court’s decision discharging all accused in the Delhi excise policy case may mean different things for supporters and dectractors of AAP, but for the party brass, all assessments reach one conclusion — Punjab.Friday’s order surprised AAP as much as it did BJP. All accused, including former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, his former deputy Manish Sisodia, MP Sanjay Singh, MLA Durgesh Pathak and AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair were present in court. Sources said all were expecting charges to be framed. “Not a single person expected the accused to be discharged, even before the trial started. Now that it has happened, the strategy for Punjab polls will be redrawn,” a party functionary said.The party’s electoral strategy in the state that is expected to go to polls in a year so far has been to talk about work done in schools, hospitals and war on drugs. Anticorruption and kattar imandaari are set to make a comeback in the AAP lexicon.The party is in office only in Punjab and holding on there is often linked by many to itssurvival. AAP also has MLAs in Delhi, Gujarat and Goa. Its primary opposition in Punjab is seen as Congress, which has been complicating things as the two parties are part of the INDIA Bloc.“The order will most-certainly impact how we contest polls in Punjab. Till today, it was almost irrelevant what we knew or what the people believed about our integrity – the truth was that we were accused of corruption. Tomorrow when we go back to the people, it will be to renew our message of clean governance with full the full backing of the court,” said a senior AAP functionary.CBI challenge to the discharge order in Delhi HC is not enough to dampen’s the party’s spirit, at least for now. “Just like an FIR was enough for BJP to accuse us of corruption, this order is enough for us for now to prove our innocence. The order not only gives us anotherway to connect with people, but also gives us a chance to say that BJP has been vindictive in its effort to usurp power at any cost,” the functionary added.Talking to TOI , Sisodia said, “It has been made clear today that Modi and Shah are writing manohar kahaaniyan using the CBI’s pen. I urge the PM to now focus on building schools and hospitals and work for the nation instead of harassing opposition leaders. Today’s order doesn’t come just as immense relief for us and our families but is also a vindication of our politics.”Many others, however, believe that the path ahead is tough, despite Friday’s win. “BJP carefully curated and spread its allegations against us over nearly three years. The FIR was filed in Aug 2022 and we lost Delhi in Jan 2025. In Punjab, we have just one year before we go to polls. While this victory is significant and will be key to our campaign, our work in Punjab must speak first,” another senior functionary said.The other challenge that AAP is facing in the state is factionalism, where questions have been raised within about ‘interference’ from Delhi in the party’s Punjab unit affairs. AAP is hoping the order will quell dissent, at least for now.