AAP changes March 26 public rally in Gujarat to workers’ meet

NEW DELHI: After receiving a setback in the Assembly elections held in Punjab and Goa, the Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) seems to have scaled down its efforts to make an entry into Gujarat’s politics.

Amid rumours of the BJP looking at going to polls early, the party has decided to convert its March 26 public rally to be held in Ahmedabad to a party gathering for mobilising its party volunteers from across 182 assembly seats.

While the rally will still be addressed by the party’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, it will be restricted to party volunteers and booth level workers. Planned as a ‘jansabha’ earlier and announced after much fanfare as part of its ‘Azadi Andolan’ campaign against BJP chief Amit Shah, the rally was meant to announce AAP’s foray into Gujarat.

According to party sources, the decision was taken after a day-long meeting with volunteers and state functionaries on Wednesday. The meeting in Ahmedabad was called by Delhi cabinet minister Gopal Rai who is in charge of the Gujarat state unit.




“The setback in Punjab has demoralised our cadres. We decided that the organisational set up needs to be strengthened before taking on the current government in Gujarat,” said a party functionary.

Nearly 50 volunteers and party workers from each of the 182 constituencies are expected to attend the gathering. Buoyed by its prospects in Punjab and a weak Congress in opposition, the party had announced its ‘Gujarat Azadi Andolan’ campaign from Gandhinagar on January 30 and had planned to end the two month long campaign in Ahmedabad with a massive rally addressed by Kejriwal.