DEHRADUN: Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia on Thursday urged the people of Uttarakhand to express their views on Colonel (retd.) Ajay Kothiyal as the chief ministerial candidate of the Aam Admi Party in 2022.
Col Kothiyal had joined the AAP in April. The retired army officer is widely respected in Uttarakhand for his role in rehabilitation of victims and reconstruction of the Kedarnath shrine after the devastating flashfloods in June 2013.
“I met the people here, including professionals, students and senior citizens like an aam aadmi. I am overwhelmed with the positive response I got about proposal of Col Kothiyal as the chief ministerial face of AAP,” Sisodia said at a press conference in Roorkee.
With Col Kothiyal in the front, the Aam Admi Party is looking to make inroads in Uttarakhand which has a strong presence of serving and retired defence personnel. At the press briefing, the Delhi deputy chief minister attacked the ruling BJP, saying that Trivendra Singh Rawat was infamous as ‘Zero Work CM’ and those who followed him in the office are no better.
“The new chief minister (Pushkar Singh Dhami) appointed by the BJP is also the same. He openly says that he will not stop anyone from stealing.” Sisodia announced that the AAP will contest all 70 state assembly seats in Uttarakhand. “If we come to power, we are going to change the status quo of lack of quality education and electricity problems.”
Sisodia’s Thursday visit comes close on the heels of Arvind Kejriwal’s Dehradun tour on July 11 when he announced free electricity to the electorate. The AAP has been trying to make roads in Uttarakhand as well as fortify its position in Punjab, another poll-bound state, to reap gains in both states. It has been also eyeing Goa to expand footprint.