Much awaited Advani-Arvind meet put off

party cadre when the BJP had been cornering the AAP Government on several contentious issues concerning Delhiites. Throughout the day, Players Building was abuzz with excitement as the meeting was scheduled to take place at 6 pm but Advani’s office informed Kejriwal’s office that the said meeting was not happening. This has triggered speculation in political circles about the BJP’srole in the cancellation of the meeting.Sources in Kejriwal’s office said it was conveyed to them by Advani’s office that he had some unexpected pressing engagements and hence could not meet the Chief Minister as decided earlier. Advani’s office said the meeting would be rescheduled sometime next week because he would not be in town on Saturday and Sunday. The Chief Minister, the sources said, wanted to discuss with Advani the demand for full statehood to Delhi, besides other issues.

Kejriwal had sought an appointment with Advani after he gave an interview to a Delhi-based national daily, suggesting that an Emergency-like situation cannot be ruled out in India in the future. The AAP leader had quickly reacted to the veteran BJP leader’s remarks by tweeting, “Advani is correct in saying that Emergency can’t be ruled out. Is Delhi their first experimentIJ”Kejriwal’s remarks gain significance in the light of the observations of political pundits that he was trying to garner support of all those who were opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A year ago, Kejriwal took on Modi by contesting against him from Varanasi in the lok Sabha elections. The AAP leader’s decision to take on Modi had helped his party gain support from the Muslim community and resulted in the AAP getting maximum Muslim votes in the Assembly elections in the national Capital.Kejriwal’s proximity to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar became apparent when the latter visited him recently at the Delhi Secretariat. Not only this, the AAP Government also appointed five Bihar policemen in its Anti-Corruption Branch. Earlier, Kejriwal had openly praised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and she too had congratulated the AAP leader after he took over as the Delhi CM. The AAP leader’s latest political ally is Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who along with senior Samajwadi Party colleague Ram Gopal Yadav had also met Kejriwal at the Player’s Building.

Sources in the AAP said that the party was joining hands with other political parties keeping the next lok Sabha elections in mind. 

The AAP has already started concentrating on strengthening its base at the grass-roots level in seven States. There are indications that the party may even contest the Assemblyelections in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. The party’s focus will also be to strengthen its cadre in metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Bangalore.