AAP’s dilemma over Gujarat polls still unresolved

The Aam Aadmi Party’s top leadership is in a Catch-22 situation over Gujarat.

A bad performance in the upcoming assembly elections would dent its image nationally, but withdrawing from the race entirely would mean further erosion of its volunteer base in India and support from overseas, which began dwindling after the defeat in Punjab and Goa polls.

Unable to decide on how many seats to contest in Gujarat, the party leadership has referred the decision to its highest decision making body, the Political Affairs Committee, state in charge Gopal Rai said. “The PAC will take the final call. No date has been fixed for the meeting.”

Rai was among the party leaders who met national convener Arvind Kejriwal on June 7 to take a final decision. But the four-hour long meeting remained inconclusive. “There are sharp divisions in the party over whether to contest the election or not and if yes, how many seats to fight on. The differences remain after the meeting,” a senior leader who was present at the meeting, said.

An internal report submitted by the state unit to Kejriwal says that it may not be a strong contender in more than a handful of seats, sources in AAP Gujarat told HT.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state – where the Bharatiya Janata Party has ruled since 1998 – goes to the polls late this year. AAP had announced grand plans in 2016 to put up a fight in all 182 seats. It wanted to emerge as a national alternative to the BJP by 2019 by performing well in Gujarat but the plan itself was contingent upon a stellar performance in Punjab and winning seats in Goa. On both counts, AAP fell short and saw party volunteers leaving even in Delhi that the party has considered its citadel since it bagged 67 of the 70 assembly seats in 2015.

“The central leadership does not want to be seen as losing in the state and is ready to give up on the Gujarat project to consolidate its position in Delhi and Punjab,” a senior leader said.

A BAD PERFORMANCE IN THE POLLS WOULD DENT ITS IMAGE, BUT WITHDRAWING FROM THE RACE WOULD MEAN FURTHER EROSION OF ITS VOLUNTEER BASE