We are prepared, said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after dates for assembly elections in five states were announced by the Election Commission of India on Monday. “We will fight elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh with all our strength. Candidates’ list will be out soon,” he said. Kejriwal reiterated what his party has been saying all along—that AAP will contest on all the seats in these three states.
Speaking to News18, AAP MP and national secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak said, “It is very clear from day 1 that our alliance (INDIA) is for national politics, for Lok Sabha elections only. And, AAP being a national party, we are fighting elections independently at the Vidhan Sabha level. So it is very clear to people as well, that in Vidhan Sabha, we are fighting independently. Our coalition or understanding with the Congress is specifically and squarely for Lok Sabha elections.”
Asked again whether there will be no seat-sharing in assembly elections, Pathak said, “Well, elections are already announced. Elections are round the corner. There isn’t much time in any case. I am again repeating, AAP is fighting elections independently, alone. And, there is no question of any understanding for Vidhan Sabha elections.” Pathak also said that he does not think there have been any talks with the Congress regarding this.
In fact, AAP has already declared the names of 39 candidates for Madhya Pradesh and 22 for Chhattisgarh. Incidentally, Sandeep Pathak, who is credited to a great extent with AAP’s extraordinary win in Punjab, hails from Chhattisgarh. The party is yet to announce any candidates for Rajasthan.
Led by Pathak, the party is working aggressively on the ground to have a presence at the district and village levels. Apart from that, the party has also conducted its trademark surveys to gauge the “energy” in different parts of these election-bound states and will focus on those areas where it elicits the maximum response.
AAP supremo Kejriwal, along with Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, has already sounded the bugle for assembly polls in these three states with campaigns in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. The Delhi chief minister has reached out to the electorate with ‘Kejriwal’s Guarantees’, including free electricity and water, reforms in government schools, and corruption-free governance. In all his campaigns, Kejriwal has targeted the Congress, along with the BJP. Over the next couple of days, Mann will campaign in Madhya Pradesh.
After the arrest of AAP MP Sanjay Singh by the ED in a liquor scam case, the top leadership of the Congress took time to extend support to AAP, and when it did, it came with a reminder of the Punjab government’s arrest of the grand old party’s leaders. Responding to this support that came with a rider, Kejriwal had remarked wryly, “Let them not support; what difference does it make.” Incidentally, the AAP chief had expressed solidarity with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi when the latter was suspended from Parliament.
“We are fighting elections in all these three states—Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan—and ours is a people-based election. So, people will fight elections on their own. So we have a huge and strong organisation in all these places,” Pathak said, brushing aside concerns of top AAP leaders facing the heat of investigating agencies. “Our bench strength is very strong. It will not harm us in any way. So, our elections are very simple. We bring aam aadmi to the centre stage, aam aadmi participates in the campaign, aam aadmi becomes the candidate and wins the elections.”
Pathak said, “I will be very candid in responding that our organisational strength is uniform everywhere. In every single village and ward in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, we have committees. So our organisation is very strong. It is just a question of candidate selection now, which we have identified. It is just a matter of campaign and candidates; results would come.” On whether AAP would declare CM candidates in these election-bound states, Pathak said, “The party has not taken any call on whether chief ministerial candidates will be declared.”
The Congress and AAP are both part of the INDIA bloc that has resolved to put up joint candidates against the BJP-led NDA in as many seats as possible to ensure that the votes of the opposition are not divided. The INDIA bloc had its fourth meeting at the residence of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar where seat-sharing in election-bound states was on top of the agenda but no headway could be made. According to sources, there have been no talks at all on any kind of seat-sharing, for state elections or general elections. In the absence of that, AAP, always quick to get its campaign off the ground, has gone ahead and done just that. However, this could be a worry for the Congress.
Elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh have been bipolar fights between the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party. The entry of AAP in these states threatens to turn them into triangular contests, at least in some regions, thus splitting the opposition votes. This would be a worry for the Congress, which is in the incumbent governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and the principal opposition in Madhya Pradesh.
While the Congress is wary of AAP’s foray when it comes to spoiling its chances, it is also not keen on sharing space with the party in its strongholds. So far, there hasn’t been any attempt at either seat-sharing or even friendly fights.
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