The Aam Aadmi Party, in its bid to make a mark in the coming Assembly elections in Uttarakhand, appears to have zeroed in on two important aspects of the state's identity – its strong association with the armed forces and the immense importance lent to places that hold religious value for the Hindus.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is also the AAP's national convenor, on his visit to Dehradun on August 17, made clear his party's intent to play up the theme of nationalism and appeal to the people's strong linkages with the armed forces when he named Colonel Ajay Kothiyal (Retd) as the chief ministerial candidate of the AAP in the Assembly polls in 2022.
Declaring Kothiyal as the CM face of the AAP in the state elections, Kejriwal said, “only a Deshbhakt Fauji can do justice to the Devbhoomi.”
Kothiyal's candidature has been projected by the AAP as providing the people with the option to vote for a person who was facing bullets at the border to protect the country while the traditional politicians were indulging in corruption. Kejriwal made it a point to emphasise that Kothiyal still has two bullets inside him. “He faced the bullets of Pakistan and the enemies of India. Even today, there are two bullets inside his body,” he said about Kothiyal.
The former army officer's contribution in rebuilding Kedarnath after its devastation in the floods some years ago has also been underlined by the AAP. Kothiyal is known as 'Bhole Ka Fauji' for the work he did in Kedarnath.
ALSO READ
- There's a 'huge conspiracy' to kill Kejriwal, alleges AAP
- Arvind Kejriwal thinks and speaks like a criminal, claims BJP MP Manoj Tiwari
- Ram Navami: AAP launches 'Aap ka Ram Rajya' website to showcase achievements in Delhi, Punjab
- Sunita Kejriwal to campaign for AAP in Gujarat; Punjab candidate list out
Almost every family in Uttarakhand has a member who is serving or has served in the armed forces, and joining the military continues to be an overriding ambition for the youth of the state. For this reason, issues pertaining to those who are serving in the armed forces as also ex-servicemen have been talking points in elections in the state.
Kejriwal, who took out a 'Devbhoomi Sankalp Yatra' in Dehdradun, declared that Uttarakhand will be the spiritual capital for Hindus across the world. He spoke about developing the holy sites and shrines in the state to ensure that the footfall of devotees goes up ten times. The declaration comes with the risk of Kejriwal, who has been criticised for being ideologically ambiguous, being criticised for taking the right turn in the ideology department and practising a softer version of Hindutva politics. However, the discourse is not expected to raise eyebrows in the hill state that houses a number of Hindu pilgrimage spots, and where parties taking up the cause of the sites is quite normal.
Even as the AAP goes to Uttarakhand with its Delhi model of governance and attempts to disrupt what has traditionally been a contest between the Congress and the BJP, it has made clear its intentions of playing up the themes of Deshbhakti and Devbhoomi.
