Tasting little success in expanding its footprint at the national level, the Aam Aadmi Party has set its sights on the northeast, where Assembly polls are due in four states this year. The five-year-old party will contest on all the seats in Nagaland, Meghalaya and on a few seats in Tripura, its leader Habung Payeng, looking after the northeastern affairs, said. Later in the year, it also plans to contest polls in Mizoram. The move comes following the party's attempts to make it big at the national level by contesting polls in Punjab and Goa. It had also contested on 29 seats in Gujarat. However, except Punjab, where the party won 20 seats, it has not been able to make inroads in other states. This year, the party also intends to contest polls in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also addressed a rally in Maharashtra yesterday, signalling that his party could also contest Assembly polls in Maharashtra, scheduled to be held in October next year. Asked about the agenda, the party plans to contest on, Payeng said, "It is being finalised by the state units.
We have decided to contest on all seats in Nagaland and Meghalaya and on a few seats in Tripura." Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland, all have 60 Assembly seats. The three states are expected to go to polls in February-March. Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was recently in the northeast to take stock of the party's strength in the region.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)