Party insiders claim that the division in its strategic manpower will dent AAP’s prospects in both states.
NEW DEHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat tried to keep its electoral momentum high after the party’s Punjab win. However, as the Assembly elections in Gujarat are days away, everything does not seem going according to the party’s plans. After the announcement of Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections (MCD) a month ago, which will be conducted alongside Gujarat elections, AAP’s manpower seems divided between the two states. The party insiders claim that the division in its strategic manpower will dent the party’s prospects in both the states.
AAP, which was banking upon its widespread electoral reach in Delhi, in view of 62 Assembly seats in their kitty out of the 70, as it appears, has now gone on the back foot as the two elections will happen side by side. An AAP leader privy to the developments within the party claimed that the Delhi-based party lacks sufficient election machinery and could not be spread proportionately into two or more election spots.
More importantly, if there are two elections going on at the same time, a party insider said that the AAP doesn’t have enough teams to work in two states at a time. Another thing was that Arvind Kejriwal had planned to dedicate his whole time in Gujarat, but now his attention is split between MCD and Gujarat, since he is the chief strategist in the party.
However, a party leader said, he is not too much into MCD, but he monitors and observes the party’s functioning through conference call with the top leaders responsible for MCD elections. Party leaders claim that the cases of corruption and tickets being sold in the MCD elections by AAP has played a spoilsport and added to the party’s worries. According to the party leaders, the cadre which was build and kept motivated upon the fight against corruption, has now lost their dedication as the cases of corruption have emerged.
However Manoj Surathiya, AAP general secretary in Gujarat, denied any hitch in the party and told The Sunday Guardian, “Nothing like division of manpower has happened. We already knew that this would happen and that MCD and Gujarat elections would be held simultaneously. Moreover, the pool of strategic manpower we have for Delhi MCD has not gotten reduced but has become more powerful.”
He added, “In Gujarat, we have Punjab’s battery of leaders. Around 80 MLAs, including ministers of Punjab, are in Gujarat currently. There is a team of 100 people helping every candidate in each Assembly segment. Arvindji is fully focused and stays in Gujarat for four days and the remaining three days in Delhi. Punjab’s CM Bhagwant Mann is giving his full-time support in Gujarat elections. We have done mapping over 150 seats out of the 182 where we are sure that either we would win or we would be able to give a challenging fight.”