How AAP plans to target Bihar, UP for 2014 LS polls

Even as the Aam Aadmi Party gets ready to be sworn in to form the government in Delhi, the party workers have their energies equally focused on the upcoming Lok Sabha Election in 2014. Keeping the same in mind, the party seems to have completed a recce of the a handful of states in central and northern India. Having taken stock of the poll issues in these states, the party is mostly likely to now focus exclusively on the Bimaru states - the ones reeling under poverty, caste violence, corruption and administrative failure. "In Bihar, we found that people are very eager to join the party. Not only are they prospective voters, they are even willing to work as grassroots cadres," said a party insider who has been overseeing the support mobilization process in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Arvind Kejriwal. AFP. 

According to experts too, states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh - crippled by a combination of issues like unemployment, communal unrest and a declining standards of living - are ideal for the AAP as it tries expanding its base. "People in Bihar have and UP have only seen corruption and muscle-flexing by political leaders. AAP will come as a breath of fresh air to these people who have the BJP, RJD, SP or BSP as options," says Hari Vash and senior journalist, political analyst and editor of a national daily. AAP seems to have zeroed in on the most economically and socially deprived section of voters in the said states. "In Bihar, we will be focusing on 14,000 villages where the population is less that 200. Hardly any development has taken place in theses villages. We will try take them along in our stride," says the AAP source. 

The party also has its sights set on the the tribal belt in the Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh. "The district convenor in Sonbhadra is a tribal himself," he adds. AAP insiders admit that their party would have already created a stronger support base in these areas had the recognized leaders like Kejriwal himself got a chance to campaign. However, they are busy making amends and a campaign will kick off soon. "Sanjay Singh and Pankaj Gupta, two of our national leaders will head a committee to set up a strategy for the sates in the upcoming election. And very soon the leaders will start travelling in these states outside Delhi," said Yogendra Yadav of AAP. 

Even though AAP has declared that it is yet to finalise a strategy for the general elections, the party seems to have started making inroads and an impact already. For instance, in Bihar, RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad recently created a stir when he said that his party will not give a ticket to one of its ally's candidates as she is the wife of a muscleman. "This incident definitely shows that the political discourse is changing. And the political parties are also stressing on the clean politics factor," says SK Tyagi of JD(U), who claims that the AAP effect will barely dent their vote-bank. "Bihar is not Delhi. There are caste dynamics and communal issues that need to be considered. It will be difficult for AAP to repeat what they did in Delhi, in Bihar," he said.

Source : FP