Winning Haryana bigger challenge than Delhi: AAP

GURGAON: Ringing up the curtain on its election campaign in Haryana , Aam Aadmi Party held its first major volunteer-meet in Gurgaon on Sunday ,withsenior leader Yogendra Yadav ranking the coming assembly elections as a ‘greater challenge’ than winning Delhi.

“The challenge in Haryana is greater , and that’s why our hopes this time are greater too,” Yadav told an audience of AAP volunteers and members , several of whom had decided to join the party only after its impressive showing in the Delhi assembly polls earlier this month , where AAP came out as the second best securing 28 seats . Calling Gurgaon the ‘centre of black politics in Haryana ,’ Yadav said that the district should now lead the way to political change , and mark the beginnings of ‘white’ or graft-free politics.

“I am happy to be here . Gurgaon was where I was born . But I am happier looking at how things have changed . Last year , we merely had around 50 volunteers at the meeting here , and now , we’ve already exceeded the numbers that we had in those constituencies in Delhi that we won . Now we all have to work in Haryana . You have to make AAP units in all your colonies . We alsohavetostart voter registration work . There are many people whose names should be on the voting list but aren’t . And . of course , there are some namesthatshouldn’tbe on the voting list but still are there . We will be doing something about that too,” Yadav said.

Political conditions in Haryan, Yadav added, are strikingly similar to that in pre-election Delhi. The massive anti-incumbency wave is just as likely to work here as it did in the capital , both longtime bastions of the Congress party . “The aam aadmi in Haryana is fed up of the ruling party , which has been in power for a decade . And he is fed up of the opposition for reasons that are well known ,” he said.

There’s yet no decision on how many candidates AAP will nominate , but sources say that the party may vie for all 90 seats in the Haryana assembly . Reports of whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka being nominated as the party’s chief ministerial candidate also remain unconfirmed.

Volunteers from Gurgaon , who were integral to AAP’s pre-election campaign in Delhi, will doubtless play a crucial role in setting the stage for AAP’s debut in Haryana .“Wewill all now be collectively working for a win in Haryana ,” said Ramesh Yadav , a national council member based in Gurgaon.

Sunday’s meetings – similar events were held in Mewat and Rewari later in the day – also marked the beginning of the party’s fundraising drive in the state . “AAP has proved that elections can be won with money that is acquired honestly from honest people . Now it’s time we repeat this Haryana , where we have bigger responsibilities ,” said Ashawant Gupta , party’s Haryana convener.

AAP’s national secretary , Pankaj Gupta , also among those present in Gurgaon , said that it’s time that this political movement , and the ‘spark generated in Delhi’ is taken to every corner of the country.