With the battlelines drawn in the national capital for the Lok Sabha elections, and the contest set to be a triangular fight between the BJP, the AAP and the Congress, Arvind Kejriwal-led party on Tuesday exuded confidence about its poll prospects, pointing out that its candidates for the seven seats in Delhi had begun their campaign much ahead of their rivals.
Also, with the talks between the Congress and the AAP for a pre-poll alliance having failed, AAP's Delhi convenor Gopal Rai said the national party would only end up playing the role of a 'vote cutter'.
“The AAP was well ahead of the other two parties in launching its campaign. We released the first list of candidates on March 1, and then the first phase of the campaign was launched. By the time the BJP and the Congress launch their campaign, the third phase of our campaign will have begun,” he said at an event at the party office to present to the people of Delhi the line-up of the seven AAP candidates.
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The seven candidates of the AAP in Delhi are Aatishi (East Delhi), Raghav Chadha (South Delhi), Dilip Pandey (Northeast Delhi), Pankaj Gupta (Chandni Chowk), Brajesh Goyal (New Delhi), Balbir Jakhar (West Delhi) and Gugan Singh (Northwest Delhi).
Rai said the Congress would only end up cutting some votes in this election. However, the AAP's worry that the Congress could spoil its chances since the two parties share the same vote bank was visible when the AAP leader said, “Every vote is precious. Voting for the Congress is equal to voting for the BJP. Hence, I urge the people of Delhi to exercise their franchise carefully.”
Dismissive of the Congress fielding its senior leaders in Delhi, the AAP leader said that the national party could not decide till the last moment where to field former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit from. “They first talked about Sheilaji being a candidate from Chandni Chowk. Then, there was some talk about her being a candidate from East Delhi. Finally, she was nominated from Northeast Delhi. Even she would not know how she landed in Northeast Delhi,” he said.
He made it clear that the party's main election plank in Delhi would be the issue of full statehood, and said the AAP's seven candidates would be the capital's warriors who will fight for its rights in Parliament.
The AAP will release its Delhi-specific manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections on April 25.
