LUCKNOW : The Aam Admi Party (AAP) launched a Tiranga Yatra in Ayodhya on Tuesday, attempting to make distinct inroads into the political landscape of Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls. AAP leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia with party man and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh spearheaded the yatra. On the previous day, the two leaders had visited Ram Janmabhoomi and Hanuman Garhi temples.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, AAP contested 77 seats and lost its deposit on 76. The party then contested the 2017 local body elections when it fielded 3,400 candidates. It won 44 seats and finished fifth. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the party failed to open its account and all its candidates lost their deposits. Earlier reports of AAP holding talks with OP Rajbhar Bhagidari on his Sankalp Morcha and Sanjay Singh meeting Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav in July, had triggered speculations of a possible alliance.
Making its stand clear on the poll strategy, Sisodia said that AAP would go alone into the UP assembly elections. “AAP will field candidates on all 403 seats and there will be no alliance with any other party,” said Sisodia, on the conclusion of Tiranga Yatra. The party is expected to release its first list of 100 candidates by the month end, having already finalised several names.
The AAP has held Tiranga Yatras in Lucknow, Agra and Noida, and will now travel to all UP districts within the next two months. “The Yatra aims to bring about a new politics of development and honesty in the state,” said Sanjay Singh.