AAP eyes inroads in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh; 1st Tiranga rally in Mandi on April 6

After forming the government in Punjab with a big majority, sources revealed that AAP is now eyeing inroads in BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh which is set to go to the polls later this year. As per sources, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party will flag off its campaign by holding a Tiranga Yatra in Mandi on April 6. This assumes significance as Mandi is HP CM Jairam Thakur's home district. 

During the recently concluded round of Assembly elections, AAP held such rallies in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa. Sources added that the Delhi CM and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann will attend the Tiranga Yatra in Himachal Pradesh. The party is also aiming to emerge as a key opposition force in Gujarat which has traditionally been a bipolar contest between BJP and Congress. 

Political scenario in Himachal Pradesh

In the 2017 HP Assembly election, BJP won 44 seats in the 68-member Assembly. However, Jairam Thakur emerged as the consensus choice for the CM's post after BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal lost the election. On the other hand, the Sonia Gandhi-led party was reduced to 21 seats. The BJP government suffered a setback last year after Congress won the by-election to the Assembly seats of Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai and the Lok Sabha constituency of Mandi. 

AAP's expansion plans come in the wake of the party winning 92 seats in the 2022 Punjab elections, which is the single highest number of seats won by any party since the reorganization of the state in 1966. Moreover, political heavyweights including Charanjit Singh Channi, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal and Amarinder Singh also lost their respective seats to AAP candidates. While it drew a blank in Uttarakhand and UP, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party opened its account in Goa by bagging two seats. 

Dismissing AAP's prospects in the state, Union Minister and Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur told the media on March 13, "They (AAP) neither have a base here nor will they be able to do anything here. They came to UP, AAP couldn't open its account. They went to Goa, they didn't get anything there. Arvind Kejriwal fought against Narendra Modi Ji and he lost his deposit. This shows that they make tall claims but they don't have the base."