Key AAP meet begins today, Lok Sabha polls on agenda

According to AAP’s constitution, no member can hold the same post as an office-bearer for more than two consecutive terms of three years each

Aiming to improve its performance in next year’s Lok Sabha elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has convened two crucial meetings on Friday and Saturday to decide its poll strategy and identify candidates.

In the 2019 elections, AAP plans to focus on 100 seats (HT File)

Senior AAP functionaries said general elections will top agenda in the meetings. Amid reports that the party was planning to amend AAP’s constitution in the meetings in order to allow Arvind Kejriwal to continue as the party’s convener, the Delhi chief minister said all such reports were “useless and fictitious stories”.

According to AAP’s constitution, no member can hold the same post as an office-bearer for more than two consecutive terms of three years each. AAP was founded on November 26, 2012. Senior party officials said Kejriwal’s tenure as convener is due to end in April 2019.

On Friday, the party’s national executive comprising 22 members will meet at Kerjiwal’s residence to identify potential candidates for the elections. A party leader said amendment to the constitution to extend Kejriwal’s term was not on agenda.

On Saturday, AAP’s national council that has nearly 400 members will meet to finalise the party’s poll strategy. While all the three Rajya Sabha MPs will be welcomed at the event, two of them — ND Gupta and Sushil Gupta —will also get a chance to address the council.

“The recent state elections will be discussed and the party’s state-level organisations will be reviewed. The possibilities of alliances with other parties will also be deliberated upon,” an AAP member said.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the AAP plans to focus on only 100 seats, most of which will be in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, apart from some other states in north India.

In contrast, In the 2014 general elections, the party had fielded over 400 candidates across the country, but managed to win only four seats – all of which were in Punjab.

AAP’s Delhi unit chief Gopal Rai said the plan was to restrict to a smaller set of seats for better results. “We won’t repeat the mistakes of 2014 again. The plan is to contest from fewer constituencies but give a tough competition,” he said.