AAP to launch ‘Mission Gujarat’

A day after the Delhi high court ruled that the lieutenant-governor was the administrative head of the national capital, the Aam Aadmi Party on Friday decided to launch its “Mission Gujarat” programme by holding a public rally in Surat on October 16 to announce its plans to contest next year’s Assembly elections. Journalist-turned-politician Ashutosh has been made in-charge of the “Mission Gujarat” and the AAP MLA from Matiala, Mr Gulab Singh, has been given full charge of the rally.

After Surat, the AAP plans to hold its second big rally in Mehsana district’s Vadnagar Assembly segment, which is also the hometown of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Vadnagar seat had earlier been represented in the Gujarat Assembly by Mr Modi.

The AAP finalised the day and venue of its first Gujarat rally as its supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is on a 10-day vipassana meditation course. Asked why October 16 was chosen as the date of the rally, a senior AAP functionary said after Mr Kejriwal returns from his 10-day break, he will be busy with a series of engagements in Punjab from mid-August to mid-September. The party has already announced it will contest all the Assembly seats in both Punjab and Goa.

Earlier, reports had suggested Mr Kejriwal would hold a rally in Gujarat in August itself. “It would not have been a politically-correct decision to hold our rally in August as Vivid Vyapari Sangh, a traders’ body which was supporting the Gujarat BJP, along with some other dalit outfits, today (on Friday) started a protest march against the Una dalit incident. The protest march, which started from Ahmedabad, will culminate in Una on August 15,” another AAP functionary said.

Reports also suggest that the traders’ body has sent feelers to the AAP that it would extend its support to the party if it contests the next year’s Assembly elections in Gujarat. A local AAP leader said the party leadership was analysing how dalits had polarised against the BJP after the Una incident. He said some local BJP legislators were also in touch with the AAP leadership. “We expect some of them to join our outfit as they are extremely angry over the way the BJP leadership is running its state unit.”