The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, jubilant over their massive win in Punjab elections, wants to test the political landscape of Telangana for a second time.
Is there scope for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to come to power in Telangana? After its spectacular victory in the Punjab Assembly elections, an emboldened AAP has shifted its focus to Telangana, where it is planning a statewide padayatra involving Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and top party leaders.
The political situation was different in Punjab, where AAP could fill the vacuum. In Telangana, where there are well-established political parties, AAP would be puny as a rival party. At this point, it cannot hope to position itself as an alternative to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti. Even the BJP, despite positioning itself as an alternative to TRS, has not achieved the desired results.
The TRS and the Congress have strong cadre at the grassroots level. As for BJP, the recent victories in four of the five states in which Assembly polls were have given boost to its prospects in Telangana.
In Punjab, the Congress was the ruling party when the Assembly elections were held. The BJP is a major opposition party in that state.
The people of Punjab were fed up with the Congress rule and the internal bickering among its senior party leaders. At the same time, they were angry at the BJP-led central government over it anti-people policies, controversial pieces of legislation relating to the farm sector, rising fuel prices, among other reasons. So, BJP was not in the reckoning as an alternative.
In contrast, the AAP government in Delhi state had made a good impression among the people of Punjab. People of Punjab had witnessed the government of Shiromani Akali Dal. Against this backdrop, the people of Punjab preferred AAP in the recent Assembly elections.
In Telangana, the ruling TRS is still enjoying people’s support and it has a very strong cadre. The Congress too has a strong cadre. In spite of internal fighting among top leaders in the party, the cadre of the Congress is intact. The BJP has been angling to emerge as an alternative to TRS and Congress in the state.
Telangana BJP chief spokesperson Krishna Sagar Rao concedes that that the saffron party cannot underestimate the AAP after its victory in Punjab.
On AAP’s plans to enter southern states, Krishna Sagar Rao told The Pioneer that in a democracy any political party had freedom to play politics and take part in elections.The AAP was very ambitious to enter southern states and its foray was imminent. However, coming to power was a different game.Once AAP established its legislative strength, it would help in the next chance. He said the important thing was to know how prepared TRS, Congress and BJP were to face AAP.
Telangana Congress Legislature party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said that the political situation in Telangana was completely different from that in Punjab. In Punjab, as a ruling party Congress had to face anti-establishment factor in addition to internal fighting among senior leaders. The people of Punjab were against BJP as they had witnessed the central government rule. So, they preferred AAP as an alternative and voted the party to power.
Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka told The Pioneer that the main advantage to Congress in Telangana was that it had not been in power after the last two elections. People of Telangana were angry at the TRS government and were prepared to vote for the Congress in the next Assembly elections. The AAP could not come to power in Telangana, he asserted.
Meanwhile, Telangana AAP chairperson Indira Sobhan said that in Telangana no political party was fighting for the welfare of people. No political party was sincere to question the ruling party as all the major political parties in Telangana were one and the same. Indira Sobhan told The Pioneer that the AAP had clean image and had record of fighting for people’s cause.
She said, “Whether people will vote or not, we have decided to conduct padayatra from 14th April across the state. AAP president and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced free education and free health to all people, irrespective of caste, creed and income once AAP came to power. She said that free education and free health would help 80% of people in the state. If people wanted change like in Punjab, they would vote for AAP in the next Assembly elections. #KhabarLive #hydnews
