PATNA: Opposition INDIA bloc suffered a major setback after Aaam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced to contest the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar independently. Assembly elections in Bihar are scheduled to be held in October-November this year.
AAP convenor Saurabh Bhardwaj said on Wednesday that AAP will contest Bihar polls solo and field its candidates in all the 243 assembly seats. “We will not tie up with any political coalition and will field candidates in all the seats,” he told the media in Delhi.
Saurabh Bhardwaj’s statement came barely a week after AAP joint secretary Manoranjan Singh revealed that the party has started preparations for contesting assembly elections in Bihar. Singh said that he would try his luck from the Taraiya assembly constituency in Saran district.
Bhardwaj said that people from villages in Bihar were in Delhi. “The people from Bihar have seen development works carried out by AAP in the national capital during its tenure. We have promised a similar kind of development in Bihar as well,” he added.
AAP has already launched a mass contact programme under the leadership of Manoranjan Singh. The party has launched “Bihar mein bhi Kejriwal’ outreach programme in the state to mobilise party workers and reach out to voters on the ‘Delhi development model’.
Bhardwaj said that the party’s Bihar in-charge, Rakesh Yadav, has already launched a seven-phase yatra across the state to make people aware of the development of Delhi during the AAP government. "People’s response is very enthusiastic,” he claimed.
Rakesh Yadav also said that there were no plans to enter into pre-poll alliance with the RJD-Congress in Bihar. AAP has its organisational strength and public following. However, the state unit has proposed to contest the coming elections solo.
He said that the party has started preparations on all 243 seats. Booth-level committees will be set up soon, he said, adding that the district-level committee has been specifically told to mobilise support from all sections of society, irrespective of caste and religion.
Meanwhile, AAP has coined a new slogan ‘Jin logon ne Delhi se Biharion ko bhagaya hai, uss BJP ko Bihar se Bihari log bhagayenge (those who displaced Biharis from Delhi, those Biharis will throw BJP out of Bihar’, with the party eyeing to make its debut in Bihar elections.