Focused on party’s expansion, can’t talk of 3rd front now: AAP
For the time being, the AAP is only focused on organisation strengthening and the ways it can expand in other states and enter the election from a position of strength SANJAY SINGH , AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is currently focusing on the party’s expansion in other states, parliamentarian Sanjay Singh said during a press conference on Sunday.
On the AAP’s strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the leader said that there are a large number of factors at play which will impact its decisions, including the upcoming assembly elections in three states, and that it was “too soon to talk about a third front”.
“The dynamics of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will depend on a lot of things, including the results of the upcoming assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and whether the parties will fight along or as a united alliance. Most importantly, if we are able to communicate the issues of inflation, farmers, unemployment and scams,” Singh said.
On who will be the largest Opposition party in the general elections, Singh said: “For the time being, the AAP is only focused on organisation strengthening and the ways it can expand in other states and enter the election from a position of strength. When we will form a comprehensive strategy for 2024 elections, we will let everyone know.”
Singh was addressing the press conference on AAP’s performance in the Uttar Pradesh local body elections, the results of which were announced on Saturday.
AAP chief convener Arvind Kejriwal will soon visit Uttar Pradesh “to strengthen the party”, Singh added.
Aaditya Thackeray meets Kejriwal
Earlier in the day, Delhi chief minister Kejriwal and Singh met the (Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leaders, Aaditya Thackeray and Priyanka Chaturvedi, at the CM’s residence, where the they had a detailed discussion on the current political developments in the country.
Following the meeting, Thackeray tweeted that “democracy and our constitution is at stake and we must protect it in every possible way.”
While the meeting comes amid the Opposition’s attempts at uniting to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre, AAP did not respond to queries regarding its participation in one such proposed meeting of major opposition parties expected to be held in Patna soon. Singh, however, said that the AAP and its policies have the capacity to defeat BJP, as has been displayed in the Delhi municipal polls and the last assembly elections in Punjab and Delhi.
On whether Congress’s Karnataka victory will act as a challenge for AAP which has been projecting itself as an alternative to Congress, Singh said that while AAP has been accused at different times for cutting votes of Congress, the latter’s Saturday’s win in the Karnataka election “shows that people saw the Congress as an alternative to corrupt government”. However, he said that the UP local body polls and the Karnataka elections showed that when there is a direct fight between two parties, space for other parties diminishes.
On a third front and whether it will be led by Congress, Singh said, “We are expanding state by state. We are taking time in some states like UP but we have also had a good entry in some. Our base in expanding. The decision for 2024 will depend on how our organisation expands.”