Good crowd at AAP's rally, threatens L-G with signature campaign if assembly not dissolved

NEW DELHI: If the crowds in the Capital on Sunday were an indication, the AAP may have passed the litmus test of political relevance. Thousands turned out to support Arvind Kejriwal’s call for fresh elections at a rally held in Jantar Mantar, the protest hotspot where he first hinted at forming a political party three years ago. Critics, however, claimed many people were brought in from Haryana and UP.

The rally, which marked the culmination of AAP’s rebuilding efforts after its LS rout, had party leaders promising a redux of the Karnataka assembly polls in 1985, when the Janta Party returned to power with an absolute majority despite a dismal performance in the LS polls held before it, after PM

Indira Gandhi’s assassination. The Jantar Mantar event was AAP’s first show of strength after LS elections. Kejriwal has already met President Pranab Mukherjee and Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung to press for fresh elections to the state assembly.

Delhi has been under President’s rule since Kejriwal resigned from power after he failed to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the assembly. With neither Mukherjee nor Jung responding to his pleas, Kejriwal has taken to his old ways of protest and Sunday’s rally, he hinted, was the first of many to come. Threatening the L-G and the central government with an ultimatum, Kejirwal also announced that his party would start a signature campaign for fresh polls if the state assembly is not dissolved within a week.