After win in MCD polls, AAP hopes to make a strong debut in Nagpur Municipal Corporation elections

NAGPUR: After a strong performance in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is hopeful that the same trend continues in the Nagpur civic polls.
Devendra Wankhede, AAP’s Vidarbha coordinator, said, “There is obviously an undercurrent and we all feel confident following the MCD results. However, one cannot deny the fact that if the civic polls prolong, then we cannot say for sure how much of an impact it will have on the results.”
The Nagpur civic body’s term got over and an administrator (NMC commissioner) was appointed earlier this year. Since then, no official date for the civic polls has been announced. Wankhede said, “Even today we are not sure when exactly the polls will take place. Once the date is announced, then all parties can prepare for the campaign.”
Regardless of the date, Wankhede said there are certain issues which will be important for AAP’s campaign.
Wankhede said, “People also understand what is happening around them and there is an anti-incumbency factor too. People know how schools are being shut, how bad the health infrastructure is and that’s why they want change.”
AAP feels that the party may become a “default choice” for the polls. “They have seen the work that AAP has done everywhere and know that issues which relate to them directly are being resolved well by us. In Nagpur too, people will chose AAP because of the work they have seen elsewhere,” said Wankhede.
For the anti-incumbency factor, Wandkhede says there are many things that his party can highlight. “We have had a chief minister from Nagpur for five years, who is currently the deputy chief minister. We also have a Union minister in the city since 2014, but still Nagpur has not really transformed into the top cities of India. We are not even number one in Swachh rankings,” said Wankhede.
Apart from this, Wankhede says that the presence of their star campaigners will definitely make an impact. “Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Singh Mann are definitely the campaigners we will be requesting for Nagpur. All we need now is to know the exact date of the polls so that everything can be planned well in advance,” said Wankhede.