AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday thanked the people of Gujarat for helping his party breach the BJP’s Gujarat “fortress”, and said the AAP has achieved the ‘National Party’ status in merely 10 years.
In a video message, Kejriwal said though the party has not won many seats in Gujarat but the votes it got helped it attain the national party status.
“I am thankful to the people of Gujarat for helping us attain the status of national party. Very few parties enjoy the status and now we are one of them. Ours is only a 10-year-old party,” he said.
“AAP was formed just 10 years ago, today we have governments in two states and have become a national party, this is enough to frighten any rival. Gujarat is considered a BJP “fortress” and the people of the state has helped the AAP make a dent in it, he said. “Hopefully, next time we will be able to win it.”
Kejriwal also said that during the campaigning, his party and leaders never indulged in mudslinging or abusive politics. They only spoke about positive things and the work done by the party in Delhi and Punjab where the AAP is in power, he added.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the Aam Aadmi Party is on course to become a national party thanks to the votes given by the people of Gujarat.
With counting of votes crossing the halfway mark in most constituencies of Gujarat, the BJP has received 53 per cent of the votes counted, while the Congress has 27 per cent and the AAP 13 per cent.
“Due to the votes given by the people of Gujarat, the AAP is today becoming a national party. The politics of education and health is making a mark for the first time in the country. Congratulations to the entire country on this,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that his party gained national party status in just 10 years and thanked the people of Gujarat for it.
Singh said his party’s leaders worked hard and “we are thankful to the people of Gujarat because of whom we got this recognition”.
“The AAP managed to bag the status of national party in just 10 years. That’s the pace of growth of this party. We got around 35 lakh votes in Gujarat. All leaders worked hard and visited rural areas in Gujarat,” he said during a press conference.