AAP all set for Gujarat debut sans any strategy, party face
GANDHINAGAR: While Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is preparing to target Gujarat with all its might after Punjab and Goa polls, the party seems to be short of a winning face or strategy so far.
To make the matter worse, the recent alliance of 23-year old convener of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) Hardik Patel with Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray has also not gone down too well with the party, which was heavily banking on him.
While it is yet to come up with a party face in the state, for quite sometime now AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal was warming up to Hardik Patel and their bonhomie on social network platforms had propelled many speculations. However, after Hardik's meeting with Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai recently, the party is getting more guarded in its reaction.
"As a leader of a community that is raising its voice against the state government, Hardik always had our sympathy and he will continue to have it," said Harshil Nayak, spokesperson of the Gujarat AAP Unit. However, Nayak insisted that the party is working at strengthening the organisation at the grass roots level.
Meanwhile, AAP Gujarat incharge Gopal Rai met spiritual leader Morari Bapu on Monday evening to seek his blessings.
Insiders admit that the party is yet to touch the right issue to galvanise electoral support for itself in the state just the same way it is yet to rope in a face in the state.
Meanwhile, the Patel agitators, too, are not showing much inclination to join hands with the party, which they still view as an upstart in Gujarat. "There is no point in getting involved with them and working for them when such efforts will only be wasted in Gujarat," said a senior PAAS leader requesting anonymity. "In the bipolar polity of Gujarat, there is no point wasting our efforts for a party that is yet to be taken seriously by the people," he adds.
PAAS spokesperson Varun Patel, however, maintained a more calculated view. "We are keeping all options open for now and weighing the sides," Patel told ET. "In time, we shall decide our stand. And if the political parties have similar approaches, we may even decide to get together and erect a third front of our own," he added.
To make the matter worse, the recent alliance of 23-year old convener of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) Hardik Patel with Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray has also not gone down too well with the party, which was heavily banking on him.
While it is yet to come up with a party face in the state, for quite sometime now AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal was warming up to Hardik Patel and their bonhomie on social network platforms had propelled many speculations. However, after Hardik's meeting with Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai recently, the party is getting more guarded in its reaction.
"As a leader of a community that is raising its voice against the state government, Hardik always had our sympathy and he will continue to have it," said Harshil Nayak, spokesperson of the Gujarat AAP Unit. However, Nayak insisted that the party is working at strengthening the organisation at the grass roots level.
Meanwhile, AAP Gujarat incharge Gopal Rai met spiritual leader Morari Bapu on Monday evening to seek his blessings.
Insiders admit that the party is yet to touch the right issue to galvanise electoral support for itself in the state just the same way it is yet to rope in a face in the state.
Meanwhile, the Patel agitators, too, are not showing much inclination to join hands with the party, which they still view as an upstart in Gujarat. "There is no point in getting involved with them and working for them when such efforts will only be wasted in Gujarat," said a senior PAAS leader requesting anonymity. "In the bipolar polity of Gujarat, there is no point wasting our efforts for a party that is yet to be taken seriously by the people," he adds.
PAAS spokesperson Varun Patel, however, maintained a more calculated view. "We are keeping all options open for now and weighing the sides," Patel told ET. "In time, we shall decide our stand. And if the political parties have similar approaches, we may even decide to get together and erect a third front of our own," he added.
