AAP aims to fill Congress ‘vacuum’ in Himachal Pradesh

However, party insiders believe that it will not be an easy task as Congress is a grand old party.

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Himachal Pradesh is trying to make inroads to Himachal Pradesh, but the party is yet to overcome some serious challenges in the state. As the Congress isn’t focussing much on the Gujarat and Himachal Assembly elections, the AAP is taking this moment to turn it into their sweet little opportunity. “To fill the vacuum created by the Congress is our main motto,” said an AAP leader in Himachal Pradesh.
“We have covered more than 6 lakh houses and our target is to cover 14 lakh households,” Pankaj Pandit, Himachal Pradesh AAP spokesperson, told The Sunday Guardian. However, the party insiders believe that solutions to the real challenges of the party are still unmet. The main party cadre of AAP is highly focused on Gujarat rather than Himachal Pradesh and this is not going well with the party members in Himachal. “Due to limited resources, Himachal Pradesh is not much in the larger picture now. The AAP is more focussed on Gujarat and party leaders are hardly taking us into consideration,” an AAP worker told this paper.
Speaking about the popular face for CM candidate in the party, an AAP Himachal insider told this paper, “We don’t know the CM candidate but Rajan Sushant and Surjeet Thakur are the two most popular faces in the party but Rajan Sushant has a bigger role to play due to his political experience. The party may give him bigger responsibilities in future.”
Rajan Sushant was a former BJP MP. Before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the former five-term Himachal Pradesh assembly, Rajan Sushant, left the BJP. He ran as an AAP candidate but lost the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and afterwards announced his resignation to form the Hamari Party-Himachal Party. On September 9, when Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi, and Bhagwant Mann, the chief minister of Punjab, visited the state, he rejoined the AAP.
The first list of four AAP Himachal candidates is Rajan Sushant from Fatehpur (Kangra district), Manish Thakur Paonta Sahib (Sirmaur), Umakant Dogra Nagrota (Kangra) and Sudershan Jaspa Lahaul-Spiti. However, party insiders also believe that filling up the vacuum in Himachal Pradesh will not be an easy task as Congress is a grand old party. AAP had begun its poll campaign from Mandi, the home turf of incumbent chief minister Jai Ram Thakur. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, along with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann began its campaign in April. Again, On 11 June, Delhi CM participated in a town hall meeting at Hamirpur. In July, he along with CM Mann participated in Tiranga Yatra at Palampur. The term of the Himachal Pradesh assembly election ends on 8 January 2023.