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Kejriwal kicks off AAP election campaign in Karnataka; Kodihalli joins party
Arvind Kejriwal tried to emulate the momentum of the anti-corruption movement which secured the party power in Delhi over a decade ago by using the graft charges against all three political parties in Karnataka to help AAP not just gain a footing in the state but to form a government.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday got a shot in the arm as the president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), one of the biggest farmer associations, said that it will back the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit in the 2023 assembly elections, giving a boost to the Delhi-based outfit a year ahead of the polls.
Kejriwal tried to emulate the momentum of the anti-corruption movement which secured the party power in Delhi over a decade ago by using the graft charges against all three political parties in Karnataka to help AAP not just gain a footing in the state but to form a government.
“If you want riots, vote for them (indirectly referring to BJP). If you want education, vote for me. If you want rowdyism, vote for them. If you want hospitals, vote for Kejriwal. I don’t know how to start a riot or be rowdy but I can give education, health care, water, roads, electricity and give a staunchly honest government,” the Delhi chief minister said.
The statement comes at a time when AAP has been trying to capitalise on the political volatility within all three major parties as well as the general distrust among the population against any government meeting even basic expectations.
The Kejriwal-led party inducted KRRS president Kodihalli Chandrashekar into its fold, bolstering its offence in the state.
Chandrashekar had said that AAP should be viewed as the “alternative” to all three political parties--Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S)--in the state. Kejriwal was sporting a green shawl --a signature of the farmer movement in Karnataka.
“There is a limit to everything. This is corruption’s last stage among those who ruled the country and state and corruption has become part of their every breath. In this situation, farmers and hardworking people should get justice and when they are making a decision, based on the truth we saw, we should help establish an alternative party to all three outfits (BJP, Congress, JD(S)) in the state. KRRS will give them full support,” Chandrashekar said.
The statements and induction of Chandrashekar comes at a time when AAP has been trying to expand its footprint in states like Karnataka, buoyed by the success it saw in Punjab.
The party has had good traction in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Bengaluru but did not get the same in the form of votes.
The Delhi-based party had its sights fixed on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, the city’s civic body) elections which has been delayed to gauge its popularity in the ballot box. With no sign of the BBMP polls, the party has set its sight on the 2023 assembly elections and has recruited former Bengaluru city police commissioner, Bhaskar Rao.
Kejriwal too said that if the state wanted education, health and corruption-free government, it should back AAP.
AAP hda managed to raise at least ₹28,00,000 funds from donors and others to bankroll the outfit’s ambitions to contest and leave a mark in the Bengaluru city corporation elections in just one afternoon at its fundraiser event.
Former Bengaluru city police commissioner Bhaskar Rao has also joined AAP, attempting to fuel momentum to the Kejriwal-led outfit’s political expansion in Karnataka.
The AAP had contested around 28 seats in the 2018 Karnataka assembly elections but managed just 0.06% of the total votes and 0.55% of the votes from the seats it contested.
This is the first time the party will look to contest the civic polls as well as prepare ground for assembly elections as it aims to grow from the grassroots, people aware of the developments said.
However, farmer organisations in Karnataka are not a cohesive unit and are not known to vote en masse, adding to the possible splintering of votes.
While farmers are known to mobilise masses for protests like anti-farm laws, Cauvery water and other issues, it has so far not moved with certainty on the political battlefield, people aware of the developments said.
“If the common man and farmers stand up, the biggest of thrones will be shaken,” Kejriwal said.
