Foot marches, 700 meetings, 5-yr report card — AAP’s Delhi poll campaign plan is ready

Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party officially launched its poll campaign Friday with the slogan — ‘Achhe beete 5 saal, lage raho Kejriwal’.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at a press conference at Delhi Secretariat on 3 September 2019 | PTI

New Delhi: ‘Achhe beete 5 saal, lage raho Kejriwal’ — with this catchy slogan, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Friday launched its campaign for the Delhi assembly elections due early next year.

As part of the campaign, the party plans to hold foot marches across all 70 constituencies over the next two days. On 24 December, the party plans to release a report card of the work done by the Kejriwal government in Delhi in the last five years. 

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was present at the launch event, said they would also hold 700 public meetings in the next 10-15 days. “Seven big town hall meetings will also be held,” he added.

The Election Commission is yet to announce the dates for the assembly elections. The term of the Delhi assembly ends on 14 February 2020. 

The elections will be a tough challenge for Kejriwal and his AAP, which finished third in the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi’s seven constituencies — with its vote share dropping to 18.1 per cent from 32.9 per cent in 2014.

Kejriwal has roped in poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) to manage his election campaign.

Kejriwal and Kishor were, however, not present at the event. It was part of the plan and deliberately done, said an I-PAC source.

‘Our slogan has emerged from Janata Samvads’

At the event held at AAP’s headquarters in ITO, Sisodia said they have been hearing from the people of Delhi that a lot of good work has been done by the Kejriwal government in the last five years.

“People have got good education, healthcare facilities, cheap and 24-hour electricity. People want that Kejriwal becomes the CM for another five years,” Sisodia added.

“Our slogan has emerged from the Janata Samvads (public gatherings to address people’s issues) we held over the last few months and it is the people who are telling us that Kejriwal should serve them for the next five years too,” said the deputy CM.

AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who was also present at the launch, said the party had delivered on over 70 of its promises made in its 2015 election manifesto.

“The AAP made 70 promises in its manifesto. We have done much more than what we promised in the 2015 polls,” he said.

Singh added that government schools earlier had spiderwebs all over, but now they look better than private schools. “Our medical clinics (are) being discussed on a global level. The (election) slogan represents our work in the last five years,” he said.

AAP senior leader Gopal Rai, also present at the event, said they have been approaching people since September to know about their opinions.

“The party has worked on making the organisation stronger and has been reaching out to the public. We will let our good work talk,” he added.

Campaign powered by Prashant Kishor

Kishor’s I-PAC had issued an “advisory” to the AAP in September this year, following which there was a visible change in Kejriwal’s political behaviour.

“An advisory was given out in September by the firm and, therefore, there was a visible change in Kejriwal’s demeanour — be it towards Modi (or others)…(Kejriwal was told) to be less aggressive and maintain a smiling face and focus on the work done instead of indulging in blame-game,” a senior I-PAC official involved in managing the AAP campaign told ThePrint Thursday.

The I-PAC plans to follow a colour-coded theme for the campaign, in sync with its other campaigns in Bihar (red for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar) and Punjab (blue for CM Captain Amarinder Singh), said the official.

“The campaign will focus on positivity as an election fought on negative statements does more harm than good,” an aide of Kishor told ThePrint. 

Headquartered in Hyderabad, the I-PAC has a few feathers in its cap, with the most recent being Jagan Mohan Reddy and his YSR Congress Party’s successful run to power in the 2019 Andhra Pradesh assembly elections.

Kishor is a vice-president of BJP’s ally Janata Dal (United) and shot to fame by designing Narendra Modi and the BJP’s successful Lok Sabha election campaign in 2014. 

He is also working with Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, which goes to polls in 2021.