With an eye on 2017 polls, AAP takes to ‘bottom up’ approach
Eyeing 2017 assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has adopted ‘bottom-up’ approach that engages party workers at grassroots - which is its proven strategy.
Eyeing 2017 assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has adopted ‘bottom-up’ approach that engages party workers at grassroots - which is its proven strategy.
Senior leader Anoop Nautiyal said the party has made its presence felt in each constituency, with around 30,000 volunteers.
In Uttarakhand, the fight is between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress – like it was in Delhi. But the politics is different.
“There is a sea of difference between Delhi and the mountain hamlets. Connecting themselves with the rural electoral base, especially amid the tough geographical and social conditions of the hills, would be a daunting challenge for AAP leaders,” said Tribhuwan Uniyal, a senior journalist in Pauri-Garhwal district.
AAP is setting up village-level committees and has appointed a coordinator in the 13 districts and an assembly in-charge for each of the 70 constituencies.
“Unlike the BJP and the Congress, which follow a traditional top-heavy approach, we are engaging party workers by adopting a bottom up approach – moving from the village-level to higher hierarchy. Our volunteers are going meeting people at home with the party’s ideology,” Nautiyal told HT.
Party leaders are at present on a tour of the Garhwal hills to strengthen the party structure at the booth level.
Bhagwati Prasad Thapliyal, a retired government official and a member of AAP from Karnaprayag in Chamoli, said Uttarakhand is weary of the BJP and the Congress as neither has delivered the “promise of development”.
“We witness excitement among locals wherever we are visiting,” Nautiyal said.