Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AP) has jumped into election campaigns in Gujarat’s Saurashtra, Surat. This is the first time AAP is contesting the Gujarat polls and there is a three-way fight there. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not even mentioning the name of this new guest in the state while campaigning. The only target of his attack is Congress and Rahul Gandhi. According to political camps, the prime minister is reluctant to raise the profile of the Pur Nigam of Delhi, recognizing the AAP as a national rival. They are confident about Gujarat winning the match, not Delhi.
Congress’s stance
According to the Gujarat political camp, Congress is more likely to suffer losses in the state polls. With the BJP in power for a long time in the state, heat has been created everywhere from agriculture to employment. In 2017, Rahul breathed down Modi’s neck, taking advantage of the anti-BJP environment that had developed. AP is trying to share in that range.
Different speculations
Initially, it was thought that besides the Congress, Modi would attack the AAP with equal importance to the opposition parties. So that Congress votes are divided. As seen in the Goa polls, the BJP has increased its political importance by repeatedly attacking the relatively insignificant AAP and Trinamool contesting in the state. It is an opposition vote-sharing strategy.
But why is Modi not naming Kejriwal? In political sources, the reason is Delhi’s re-incorporation vote. The Gujarat polls include the all-important elections in Delhi (December 4), which is a challenge for the BJP. On the other hand, AAP failed to win the Purnigam even after coming to power in Delhi twice in a row. They are desperate to win this round, which is a headache for the BJP. This election was supposed to be held last June-July.
Centre’s decision
But the Center decided to bring the 3 Purnigams of Delhi under the umbrella of one corporation again after 15 years by hanging the elections. BJP has been in power for the past 15 years in Delhi.
Political camps believe that Modi does not want to increase his importance in Delhi by directly attacking Kejriwal in the Gujarat polls. BJP’s top leadership believes that the more top leaders like him attack AAP, the more they will benefit from Delhi votes. On the other hand, Modi-Amit Shah is very confident about winning in Gujarat. The BJP leadership thinks that Kejriwal fighting there means that the Congress votes will be divided even if only slightly. So, BJP does not see the need to bother about AAP separately for the Gujarat polls.
Kejriwal’s party is plagued by allegations of corruption
Ten years ago today, Arvind Kejriwal came to power against Congress corruption. But after eight years of coming to power, Kejriwal and his party Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are stuck in the sand of corruption and nepotism. Kejriwal’s credibility is under question due to allegations of secret collusion with the BJP.