Aap eyeing up

Aap eyeing up

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is seriously trying its luck in the forthcoming Assembly election due next year. The party recently kicked off its campaign with a ‘Tiranga Yatra‘ in Ayodhya. Enthused by the response, the party is likely to hold more such yatras in the coming months in other districts of Uttar Pradesh. Though the elections in Uttar Pradesh are a little away, most parties have already started activities to woo voters. And it makes sense as the stakes are high. Uttar Pradesh has 80 parliamentary seats. It is generally the Congress, BJP, Samajwadi Party and the BSP that fight the elections. But now the AAP is making inroads into the State. It has been consistently trying to make its presence felt in several States, including Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Goa. The party seems to be filling up the vacuum created by the missing Congress. The BJP and the BSP have their cadre on the ground in ‘Jan Sammelan Yatras’. The SP is holding a ‘Shiv Sevak Sammelan’. The Congress is conspicuous by its absence. Most of the parties are trying to woo the Brahmin voters who are disgruntled with the incumbent Government, which is seen favouring the Thakurs.

Brahmins, who make up 12 per cent of UP’s population, are significant from the poll point of view. The AAP is also planning ‘Chanakya Sammelans’ to engage Brahmins. The ‘Tiranga Yatra’ in Ayodhya was led by Manish Sisodia along with the party’s UP in-charge, Sanjay Singh. So far, the AAP has not had a very good response in Uttar Pradesh. Arvind Kejriwal fought against Narendra Modi and lost. During the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the AAP contested 77 seats and lost the deposit on 76. The party then contested the 2017 local body elections. It had 3,400 candidates in the fray but only 44 won. It was at number five. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the party failed to open its account and all its candidates lost their deposit. For the 2022 Assembly polls, it has decided to contest all the seats on its own. But the situation could change as the AAP is trying a tie-up with OP Rajbhar’s Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha. Sanjay Singh is in talks with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. He is also trying to build the party at the grassroots and strengthen the organisation. It might not win as yet but it can be a spoilsport for the ruling party.