New Delhi, Feb 11: After a decisive victory in the Delhi Assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party is giving indications of positioning itself as the “credible” opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“We are not a regional party. We do not share anything in common with other regional parties. We wish to emerge as a credible and transparent alternative to the current politics,” party ideologue Yogendra Yadav revealed in a debate on NDTV.
He, however, made it clear that the party was not considering contesting elections in Bihar or in any other state right now. He said that would depend on many factors as equations in states are different from that in the national capital.
The party is clear in its goal of not allying with anti-BJP or anti-Congress parties - SP, JD-U, Trinamool Congress and others. Yadav accused them of being part of the same brand of politics. He asserted that the AAP was not interested in becoming a political alternative but wanted to provide “alternative to politics”.
Though a section of the party has been in favour of taking support from other parties, the party leadership has resisted the option. A recent example is of declining the offer of former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to address rallies in support of AAP during Delhi polls. “It is still not clear whether we would go national or remain limited to the national capital. There is certainly a section in the party that pleads for concentrating on Delhi, at least for now,” admits a senior party leader.
However, according to party sources, the party has done enough ground work to expand to states under its ‘Mission Vistar (expansion)’. The committee is expected to submit its report sometime next fortnight.
Party sources said leaders like Prashant Bhushan have been pleading for a more transparent mechanism of decision making in the party. They had raised the issue of giving tickets to leaders who had deserted other parties to join AAP at the time of elections. They want the party to shed this practise before any expansion. They want the party to implement its constitution in letter and spirit, which stands for participatory decision making.
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