AAP says it may enter UP poll fray 'to defeat the politics of hate'
The AAM Aadmi Party (AAP) has not ruled out fighting the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, a state where communal tension - especially in its western pockets bordering Delhi - has been on the rise in recent times.
“We’re yet to take a final call on whether the party would jump into the fray, but the option is definitely open to us. It’s our responsibility to defeat the politics of hate in our vicinity. Right now we’re building our organisation,” senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh told Mail Today.
Since it came to power in March 2012 the Samajwadi Party’s popularity in UP has dipped, with the BJP and allies winning 73 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2014.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited UP’s Dadri, where a man was killed over rumours of beef consumption
The SP’s challenge is to retain its Muslim support - 18.5 per cent of UP’s voting population. The SP is also seen to have been soft on riots.
“Politics of hate will not work in India. The current challenge is to fight both Hindu and Muslim bigotry. If we fight the elections in UP, we would do so based on people’s issues - like AAP did in Delhi - and not on caste and religion. We have a fine Delhi model that can be replicated there,” said Singh, who is AAP’s go-to man for Uttar Pradesh.
Another top AAP leader said the SP knows that it would be difficult to repeat the 2012 performance in UP unless there is some communal trouble on the ground.
“When you are in politics, fighting elections is not just an option. It is a necessity. Just that party has to decide when and where,” he said.
Sanjay Singh, AAP's UP in-charge, said the party would fight the elections "based on people's issues and not on caste and religion".
In 2012, the Samajwadi Party, which draws support from backward castes and Muslims, won 224 seats in the 403-member UP Assembly.
Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has considerable Dalit support, was seen to have failed to tackle corruption.
While the BSP is busy regrouping its cadres, AAP - born out of an anti-corruption movement - has also been presenting itself as a national alternative to the Congress, eyeing its support base of the poor and Muslims.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his senior party colleagues on Saturday visited the family of a man who was lynched in a UP village near Delhi following rumours of beef consumption.
Kejriwal accused UP’s ruling Samajwadi Party and the BJP of fanning tension to polarise society.
“I am being accused of doing politics. Yes, I am doing politics. But I am doing politics of unity and love. They are doing politics of hatred,” he tweeted.
Singh says both SP and BJP have joined hands in UP to divide society on religious lines.
“Even in the run-up to the 2015 Assembly elections in Delhi, the BJP tried to fan communal tension but we countered it with politics of development. In UP, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has failed on all fronts. Every day, there is some agitation. Goondagardi is at its peak,” he said.
AAP’s preparation for the 2017 Assembly elections in Punjab, where the party did really well in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, are in full swing. However, the enthusiasm is not equal in UP, though slogans like “Dilli mein dikhaya dum; ab UP mein aa gaye hum” can be heard.
Singh has visited UP dozens of times in recent months to make the party a force in a state that has traditionally had only three players - the SP, BSP and BJP.
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“Both states are different. UP is more than three times bigger than Punjab in terms of the number of Assembly seats. Punjab is where we got all our four MPs from. We’re strengthening our organisation in UP. But we will take a wise call,” said another AAP leader.
After AAP’s historic victory in Delhi early this year, state polls would test the party’s strength to spread.
“We have set up units in all 72 districts of UP. We’re holding protests against the policies of the BJP-led central government and the state government in UP. We’re ready for any call that the party takes,” said a senior AAP functionary in Lucknow.
