Show of unity at 1st AAP national conclave; party talks up 10-year rise

Party leaders at the conclave discussed alleged attempts by the BJP to crush the AAP and check its expansion. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh tabled a resolution against BJP’s so-called Operation Lotus to break the party, while AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai tabled a resolution seeking support and commitment for party supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s Make India No 1 initiative

The story of the Aam Aadmi Party’s rise within 10 years from being founded on November 26, 2012, to running two state governments dominated the first conclave of the party’s 1,500 elected representatives at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Arena on Sunday.

The first AAP national conclave. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The convention was a show of strength by the party, which is trying to expand beyond Delhi and Punjab, so that it has a stronger launchpad before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

“The AAP used to be called as a four-member party by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress (when it was formed),” said Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who delivered the closing address at the conclave. “But now, the AAP is a party with a government in two states, 10 MPs, 1,500 public representatives in 20 states, with hundreds of MLAs and mayors.”

Party leaders at the conclave discussed alleged attempts by the BJP to crush the AAP and check its expansion. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh tabled a resolution against BJP’s so-called Operation Lotus to break the party, while AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai tabled a resolution seeking support and commitment for party supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s Make India No 1 initiative.

“The BJP’s Operation Lotus is the biggest attack ever on the sanctity of independent India. It poses a greater threat than any foreign attack to the nation,” Singh said.

Operation Lotus, a term AAP has given to alleged attempts by the BJP to poach its MLAs to topple the AAP government, was discussed threadbare at the conclave.

“The BJP could not run Operation Lotus on two AAP Goa MLAs, neither they can do that in future because we are for our leader’s vision,” said Venzy Viegas, AAP MLA from Goa.

AAP leaders from different states and union territories sat together in the stadium, most wearing the party’s yellow and blue neckbands. The delegation from Punjab was conspicuous by its presence and AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj moderated the conclave. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann was not present but addressed the conclave through videoconferencing from Germany.

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sisodia said: “Two models of politics exist in the country. The first model is where all party members are busy in making only one person No.1 and that person’s motive is to make his friends No. 1 in the world. On the other hand, the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal have only one dream to make India the No. 1 country in the world. The party has a dream and we all have to work hard to turn it into reality.”

Mann said Kejriwal was determined to make India the number one country in the world and urged everyone to support the movement.

The BJP has rejected the AAP’s charges on Operation Lotus and has claimed that the AAP is trying to divert public attention from the alleged excise scam in Delhi by raising the baseless issue.