AAP spells out national ambitions at party meet

Arvind Kejriwal said people the expectations from the AAP are so high that people expect the party to win every election that it contests.

Aam Aadmi Party national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday spelled out his party’s vision to expand organisation across the country, plans to contest upcoming state elections and targeted the Bharatiya Jantata Party-led central government in a veiled attack, citing issues such as inflation and national security.

New Delhi, Dec 18 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses the 11th National Council Meeting of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in New Delhi on Sunday. (ANI Photo) (ANI)

Speaking at the AAP’s national council meeting in the national capital, Kejriwal said the party’s performance in the Gujarat assembly elections was nothing short of “milking an ox”. The AAP won five seats with a vote share of 13% in the state, and won it the eligibility for a national party status. The BJP returned to power in Gujarat for the seventh time with a record number of seats.

Making his pitch for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Delhi chief minister said, “I have a vision for the whole country, AAP is only a medium that will help achieve the vision. I envision an India that is a global education hub, where no one sleeps hungry, where underprivileged get top class education and health care and become rich. In our vision for India, there is no scope for caste-religion divides, if the nation can’t unite for once and for all, it won’t be able to progress. If any party or organisation tries to divide the society, they do not want to make the country progress but instead push it back to the 1900s.”

The AAP is only a medium that will help achieve this vision, he added.

For a party that was born out of an anti-corruption agitation ahead of the 2014 general elections, the AAP scored unprecedented successes in Delhi, where the party raised issues such as power, water, better government schools and healthcare. Its earlier forays into national politics failed miserably, but the AAP sprung a surprise yet again -- winning Punjab assembly elections with the biggest ever seat tally of 92 --- delegating both the Congress and the Shioromani Akali Dal to political margins.

With just 10 years of age in politics, and two states in its kitty, the AAP ran a spirited campaign in Gujarat emerging as the main contender replacing the Congress. However, it could not match the BJP blitzkrieg.

Talking about party’s achievements so far, Kejriwal said people the expectations from the AAP are so high that people expect the party to win every election that it contests. He added that the AAP will form the government n Gujarat in the next assembly elections. “We have become a national party in 10 years. It was because we are fresh air in the national politics and people are fed up with traditional parties which do not talk about the welfare of the people but only remain engaged in dirty politics.”

Now, assured of a national political party status, the AAP’s national executive also met just hours before the national council meet. The council decided to build organisational structure across the country, particularly in the Hindi heartland, and states that are going to polls next year – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Telangana. It was decided that a detailed blueprint will be made and acted upon in a time-bound manner.

“There is something about the AAP that is nothing short of magic. Within a year of formation, we formed the government in Delhi and within 10 years of formation we formed the government in Punjab and became a national party. There is something that god wants us to do and therefore we are getting such immense support from the people of the country,” Kejriwal said.

While commending the party’s performance, the AAP chief also targeted the central government in a veiled attack by citing issues such inflation. “People are worried about inflation. The rate of inflation in the country is 7%, the maximum inflation is in BJP-ruled Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, where the rate of inflation is 8%. However, Delhi has an inflation rate of just 4%. Delhi is the most affordable city to live in the country, because here the government works for the public,” said Kejriwal.

The AAP chief further claimed that 12.5 lakh high net-worth individuals have left the country in the past five years because they were not provided with a conducive business environment by the central government.

He added that those who want to work with honesty are troubled by the Centre which “uses agencies like the enforcement directorate (ED) and others if anyone dares to take a stand against the government…however criminals are made to join the BJP”.

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann said Punjab was the “stepping stone” for the party to national success. “Delhi gave us our first government. Punjab gave us our first members of the Lok Sabha. For the first time, the people of Goa opened our account down South. The people of Gujarat made the AAP a national party.” Mann said.

Senior party leader Gopal Rai said the national council passed three important resolutions on national security, inflation and employment. “In the first phase, the work of nationwide organisation expansion will be carried forward on priority basis in the states where elections are to be held in the coming days,” said Rai.

Party representatives from across the country participated in the meeting, said AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta said.

BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that Arvind Kejriwal is a “man in a hurry”. “He is now going from state to state be it Goa, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat making a record with the party candidates loosing security deposits in state elections.”

Tanvir Aeijaz, associate professor of political science at Ramjas College, said, “In the last seven years of governance in Delhi, the AAP has tried to chisel a model which it used to expand its footprints to Punjab, Goa and Gujarat. It’s performance in Gujarat and Goa were far below expectations and it fared badly in Himachal. The Lok Sabha elections is a different ball game altogether where different political strategies such as grassroots presence of the party workers and strong candidates are also required. It may be a very difficult task given the negligible presence of AAP in the states going to polls next year, but an early start may help. If AAP wants to articulate and aggregate the interest of the masses, it must disclose which side of the political spectrum it is. Without political ideology it wouldn’t be able to expand much nationally.”