Making it clear that it has not given up its ambition to expand beyond Delhi despite electoral debacles, the Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday announced that it will contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Rajasthan.
The AAP, in a major decision, has also removed Kumar Vishwas as in-charge of party affairs in Rajasthan, replacing him with Deepak Bajpai, who is AAP's national treasurer. The relationship between Vishwas and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal had hit rock bottom after the former was not nominated by the party to the Rajya Sabha. There were complaints from the party's Rajasthan unit that Vishwas was not taking adequate interest in the AAP's activities in the state.
Bajpai had been deputed to Rajasthan over the last few weeks to assess the political situation in the state, and he toured several districts and Assembly segments. The process for identifying candidates has begun, the party said.
The decision to contest the Assembly elections in Rajasthan was taken by the political affairs committee of the party two days ago.
Announcing the decision, AAP leader Ashutosh said the party would present itself as an honest alternative to the duopoly of the Congress and the BJP.
“The farmers and labourers of Rajasthan have suffered persecution and atrocities. Farmer agitations have erupted in almost all parts of the state. Electricity prices are on the rise. Corruption has reached unprecedented levels. Both the BJP and the Congress have betrayed the people of the state at every step,” Ashutosh said.
The party would sell its 'Delhi success story' in Rajasthan, and its leaders have already begun stating that if voted to power, it would bring down electricity rates and the water supply would be free, as is the case in the national capital.
It will also draw comparisons between the condition of government schools in Delhi, which it claims have undergone a dramatic transformation under the AAP regime, and the state of schools in Rajasthan.
“The AAP will offer the people of Rajasthan an honest alternative. The party's government has made a huge difference to the lives of all sections of society in Delhi, and the party will replicate the work in Rajasthan,” said AAP Rajasthan leader Poonam Chand Bhandari.
AAP had last year focused big time on fighting the Assembly elections in Punjab, with Kejriwal himself spending a substantial amount of time in the state. However, it failed to make much of an impact in the state, with the Congress winning the elections to end Akali rule.
It also failed to make any ripples in Goa, which saw state elections around the same time as Punjab. The defeats in the Assembly polls were followed by an even more embarrassing trouncing at the hands of the BJP in the civic polls in Delhi, which the party had expected to win. The series of electoral setbacks had given rise to speculation on whether the party, which made a token appearance in the Gujarat polls late last year, would now focus only on Delhi for some time to come.