Buoyed by LS show, AAP to launch Kurukshetra membership drive

Nitish Sharma

Kurukshetra, June 7

After giving a tough time to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has started gearing up for the Assembly polls and has decided to induct new members to strengthen its base in Kurukshetra.

Focus on urban areas

We will focus on the urban areas, as the party has not got the desired response from the urban voters. It has been decided to again go door to door and induct 30 new volunteers at each booth to further strengthen the party’s base. — Vishal Khubber, AAP’s District chief

AAP candidate Sushil Gupta had managed to get 42.55 per cent votes compared to 44.96 per cent votes secured by winning candidate Naveen Jindal of the BJP.

Accepting a lack of support in the urban areas, the AAP leaders said they would again go door to door and induct new members in the party. The AAP leaders also believe that the votes were taken by INLD secretary general Abhay Chautala and a religious event organised in Kurukshetra just before the election, also helped the BJP in Kurukshetra in getting the decisive lead.

AAP’s district chief Vishal Khubber said, “The party has got over five lakh votes in the Lok Sabha polls and it is a great achievement for us as people in the rural areas have started recognising the party’s symbol (broom). It will help us in the upcoming Assembly elections. The difference between the BJP and AAP was just over 29,000 votes. Over 78,000 votes taken by Abhay Chautala and a religious event by Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham also helped the BJP in getting the lead.”

“Our teams have been analysing the party’s performance at each booth and in a couple of days we will hold a meeting to discuss the issues that we have faced during the polls. We will focus on the urban areas, as the party has not got the desired response from the urban voters. It has been decided to again go door to door and induct 30 new volunteers at each booth to further strengthen the party’s base,” he added.

AAP state chief Sushil Gupta, who lost the election, said, “I got a good vote percentage and if I was polled another 15,000 votes, I would have won the election. We won in four Assembly segments, but there was defeat in urban areas. We will work hard and we are hopeful that we will do better in the Assembly election.”

About the support from the Congress party, Sushil Gupta said, “I feel that all Congress leaders and workers worked diligently for the alliance and similarly, AAP gave all respect to the Congress. If we compare, across the country, the INDIA bloc got more support from rural voters than the urban voters. AAP will contest the Assembly polls on all 90 seats with full strength. However, the final call will be taken by the party high command.”