AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal would address rallies in poll-bound states to boost the party’s performance in elections.
NEW DELHI: Before the 2024 general elections, some key states around the nation would vote for Assembly elections. In 2023, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Telangana and north-eastern states Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram will go for polls. After a historic victory in Punjab last year, the clinching of MCD from the BJP, opening an account in BJP bastion Gujarat and getting the status of the national party have boosted AAP’s position.
Currently, AAP has started chalking out plans for Hindi states that will go to polls this year. AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Sandeep Pathak is touring states to increase the party’s base. On 27 January, National General Secretary (organization) Sandeep Pathak visited Jaipur, Rajasthan, to launch a massive membership drive.
Last year in March, the Rajasthan unit of the party was dissolved and now after a year, the party is planning to restructure before Assembly polls. The Sunday Guardian talked to a leader in the Rajasthan AAP unit to know about the party’s preparations for Assembly polls. “From 1 February, the party will start the membership drive and it will end on 15 February. After members join the party, the process of restructuring the state unit will start,” the Rajasthan AAP leader said.
The AAP is planning to focus on the issue of unemployment in the state. “In current Congress rule, 17 examination papers were leaked and the youth are not happy with the Gehlot government. Keeping a high population of young people in mind, issues related to them will be taken up,” said the AAP leader. The party is planning to give more space to young faces in Assembly elections. In the 2018 Assembly elections, AAP contested 142 seats out of a total of 200, but could not secure a single seat. Now, the party has decided to contest all 200 seats. AAP leadership is also sensing opportunity from the dispute between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot. “In Punjab, the tussle between Navjot Singh Sidhu and Captain Amarinder helped us to win Punjab. The same scenario in Rajasthan could also help us,” the AAP leader said.
A day before the membership drive, AAP’s Rajasthan in-charge and MLA from Delhi’s Dwarka, Vinay Mishra, was summoned by the Crime Branch of Rajasthan Police in a case relating to a tweet against Rashtriya Loktantrik Party chief Hanuman Beniwal.
In Chhattisgarh also AAP is working to rejuvenate its cadre on the ground. In 2018, AAP contested 85 out of 90 Assembly seats in Chhattisgarh, but could not even manage to win a seat. Congress swept to power by winning 68 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party won just 15 seats, while Ajit Jogi’s Janata Party Chhattisgarh and Bahujan Samaj Party alliance got seven.
“In September, the party launched a membership drive through which we brought 1.5 lakh workers directly into the party’s fold and apart from this, 50,000 connected with AAP via missed call campaign,” said Komal Hupendi, president, Chhattisgarh AAP.
Currently, AAP Chhattisgarh is working on uniting the urban cadre for the party. Recently, district heads were appointed and in February unit heads for the village circle would be appointed. Burai MLA and Chhattisgarh in-charge Sanjeev Jha is also touring the state and the central leadership of the party is also keeping a keen eye.
“Chhattisgarh is a state which is rich in natural resources, but people who are the downtrodden and real owners of these resources do not get their rights” said Komal Hupendi. The party is currently taking advice from people on the ground and workers for issues to be taken up in Assembly elections. Not only Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, but AAP has also announced to contest a total of 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh. But, according to AAP leaders funding and generational voters’ mindset are some problems AAP is facing in the states. In the coming months, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal would address rallies in these states to boost the party’s performance in elections. “The picture will get clear 4-5 months before the elections and then the party will figure out where to focus more,” an AAP leader said. In last year’s Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat elections, the party diverted its focus from Himachal to Gujarat, when the AAP leadership sensed better performance in Gujarat.