After tasting success in the Surat municipal elections where it won 27 seats, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has now set its eyes on the forthcoming civic body polls in Gandhinagar where voting will take place on October 3.
The entry of the AAP in Gujarat’s capital has made the contest tripartite, giving jitters to the BJP and the Congress, traditional rivals in the local polls.
On Wednesday, AAP’s leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia asked the people of Gandhinagar to give his party a chance to change the face of the State capital.
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Well-attended town-hall
Mr. Sisodia addressed a well-attended town-hall in a very posh Gift city club auditorium and also held a road show appealing the citizens, mostly government employees, to vote for the AAP. He termed the BJP and the Congress as the two sides of the same coin.
Mr. Sisodia told the media that the voters of the city had given a chance to the Congress in the past but the party betrayed the people’s mandate and helped the BJP to capture the municipal body.
In the last elections in 2016, the Congress had won the poll but subsequently its councillors defected to the BJP, helping the ruling party to capture the civic body.
“The people of Gandhinagar want change. It’s not that the BJP has been winning here since the beginning. In the past, people of Gandhinagar had given a chance to the Congress also as people were not happy with the BJP rule. But since the Congress was the only option, people voted for that party to bring in a change,” he said.
He slammed the two parties for playing a fixed match in the State and appealed to the voters to make the AAP as real alternative to see real developments in the city.
No false promises
“Recently, 27 AAP councillors won in Surat. The way they are working, people are now realising what a corporator can do. People just want to get their work done. They don’t want any false promises. People now have a choice in the form of AAP.”
He said instead of seeking votes on religious or caste lines, the AAP will seek votes only on the basis of the party’s performance. The polls are being held almost six months after they were postponed due to the pandemic.
Around 2.8 lakh voters will elect 44 municipal councillors.
