Dehradun: A month after promising 300 units of electricity free if the Aam Aadmi Party comes to power in next year’s assembly elections in Uttarakhand, the party’s national coordinator and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Tuesday announced Col Ajay Kothiyal (Retd) as AAP’s chief ministerial candidate. He also announced that AAP will make Uttarakhand the spiritual capital for Hindus across the world.
Uttarakhand is ruled by a Bharatiya Janata Party government that has seen three CMs -- both changes have come in the past year -- with the Congress as the principal opposition.
Kejriwal, who is on a day-long visit to Dehradun, said the people of Uttarakhand don’t want politicians but a patriot army man like Col Ajay Kothiyal, who has fought for the country, battled terrorists, carries two bullets in his body, and played a major role in the reconstruction of the Kedarnath after the 2013 tragedy.
“Sometimes back (AAP leader and Delhi deputy CM) Manish Sisodia came here to find out who people here wanted as the CM . We carried out many surveys. And we got an overwhelming response from Col Kothiyal. People said we don’t want leaders, we want a patriot, who thinks about Uttarakhand, its people and Mother India,” he said and added, “So it is the choice of people of Uttarakhand.”
AAP has sought to revive its national ambitions in recent months. In June, he said the party would have a Sikh chief ministerial candidate when it contests the Punjab elections next year. “Punjab is looking for a new brand of politics,” he said then, inducting former IGP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh into the party. The party has also set its sights on Gujarat, which goes to the polls later that year. In both states, the party has promised units of free electricity if it comes to power.
{{/usCountry}}AAP has sought to revive its national ambitions in recent months. In June, he said the party would have a Sikh chief ministerial candidate when it contests the Punjab elections next year. “Punjab is looking for a new brand of politics,” he said then, inducting former IGP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh into the party. The party has also set its sights on Gujarat, which goes to the polls later that year. In both states, the party has promised units of free electricity if it comes to power.
{{/usCountry}}Kothiyal joined AAP in April this year in the presence of AAP state unit president SS Kaler at an event in Haridwar. The party, which plans to contest all 70 seats in the state, is banking on Kothiyal’s army background and his popularity in the state for his significant contribution to the reconstruction work of the Kedarnath shrine after the 2013 tragedy.
“If we want to do something good in the state, we have to bring the AAP model of governance to Uttarakhand. I was impressed by this model and that is why I joined AAP to implement this model here,” Kothiyal said Tuesday.
Political analyst Prof MM Semwal, who teaches political science at Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University said that though AAP is aggressively trying to gain a foothold in Uttarakhand politics, it remains to be seen how the party performs at the ground level. “Uttarakhand has been primarily dominated by BJP and Congress. AAP still has to create a cadre like BJP and Congress in the state. But they can dent both BJP and Congress in some areas with their youth connect and major poll announcements”, he said
During his July visit, Kejriwal promised to replicate AAP’s Delhi model of governance in Uttarakhand. He added that if the party came, it would bring about a major change in the state’s education and health infrastructure.