Making an apparent attempt to consolidate its position in Punjab and gain ground against the traditional political parties, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already devised its strategy for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, just a few months away.
The party has taken a lead to announce five of its candidates, out of total 13, to contest parliamentary polls in Punjab in October.
Marred by internal infighting and also losing on to its popular faces including Sukhpal Khaira, Kanwar Sandhu, Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, among others, the party is making frantic efforts to make headway, especially after its far-from-expected performance in the 2017 Punjab assembly elections.
With AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal himself taking over the charge for the party in the state, the state unit is also gearing up for the polls, starting from the grass root level.
To begin with, AAP would hold door-to-door campaign at the booth level in all 13,000-plus gram panchayats in the state. Initially, the party would focus on those 7,000 villages where AAP has registered a win in the recently-concluded panchayat elections.
“The party will organize training camps for sarpanches and panches at the village level,” said AAP’s Punjab core committee chairman and MLA Principal Budhram.
He said that during the session, the volunteers will be taught the ways to reach out to the people at grassroot level. “The volunteers will tell the people how and why Akali Dal (Badal) has lost the ground in the state, and also about the fake promises made by (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (Punjab Chief Minister) Capt Amarinder Singh before the elections,” he added.
