AAP’s Karnataka strategy is to become the alternative to BJP

In Karnataka there have been questions on what space in the political spectrum AAP hopes to occupy.
AAP’s Karnataka strategy is to become the alternative to BJP
AAP’s Karnataka strategy is to become the alternative to BJP
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After Punjab results, the AAP embarked on a membership drive in four southern states —Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. In Karnataka, where the party has been active for many years, President Arvind Kejriwal signalled the start of the campaign for Assembly Elections scheduled to be held in 2023 with a rally in April where farmer leaders were inducted into the party. 

After the AAP tasted electoral success in 2013 by winning Delhi, a year after its formation, it had to wait another nine years to form a government outside Delhi. But just days after winning Punjab Assembly elections recently, the party decided to intensify its expansion plans in south India. 

The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) was built on the anti-corruption plank but over years, the party’s stand or a lack of it, on a number of issues has been capricious. In Karnataka, even as AAP has attempted to position itself as the real alternative to the ruling BJP in the state, there have been questions on what space in the political spectrum it hopes to occupy. 

Unlike the Congress and the JD(S), its presence on ground and its stand on important issues have been both inconsistent and infrequent. Prithvi Reddy, the State Convener for AAP Karnataka says that their primary focus is doing two things. “Our commitment is that we will use taxpayers' money on them without corruption. The second is to implement a standard model for a dignified life. The government is to provide for education, healthcare, water and electricity,” says Reddy. Beyond this, AAP will look at Karnataka-specific issues and look at uneven development of different regions of the state. 

Urban-rural gap in AAP’s base

The India Against Corruption(IAC) movement, on which AAP was built, was mostly concentrated in cities across the country and this helped AAP mobilise support in urban clusters. But with this, the AAP cultivated an image of being an urban-centric party, with its volunteer groups made up mostly of educated, social-media savvy city-dwellers. But over the years, the party has tried to detach itself from that image in an attempt to woo rural voters. 

In 2013, the party had conducted a survey in all districts of the state to assess the mood of the people and accordingly field candidates for the Assembly elections. But AAP’s presence still remains patchy and asymmetrical in the state. 

To bridge the gap, AAP has built associations with farmers and weavers’ groups in Karnataka. “Because of a lack of resources, we had not reached villages. Now, with tie-ups with farmer associations, we are not an urban party anymore. It is not just farmers and even weavers associations that want us to address some of their issues,” says Prithvi Reddy. 

“We believe that farmers in Karnataka have not gotten their due. So we will field and ensure that farmers win in Karnataka so they can determine their own future,” he adds. Mohan Dasari who heads the Bengaluru unit of AAP adds that the issues that the party addressed in Punjab are also relevant in Karnataka. 

In both the states where AAP has seen electoral success – Delhi and Punjab – it has leveraged the anger against Congress and vowed to undo its corruption and misgovernance. How will that strategy work in Karnataka? 

“We are the only real Opposition in the state. Be it in terms of corruption or development, we are the only party that has the moral authority to speak on the subject and we are the only party that has delivered. When DK Shivakumar or HD Kumaraswamy call out the BJP’s corruption, nobody is even listening,” says Prithvi Reddy. 

BBMP and Assembly elections

Dates for the Bengaluru municipal corporation, BBMP, are to be announced soon and AAP intends to field candidates in all the wards, says Dasari. “We have more than 60 party offices across Bengaluru and more than 150 ward presidents and aspirants working for us. We will fight in all the wards without any alliances,” he adds. 

In the 2023 Assembly Elections too, AAP is planning to contest without any alliance. “We are not looking at tie-ups with smaller parties. We have found that in alliances, unless you are on the same page, it dilutes our agenda. If people from other parties meet our strict requirements of three Cs–no corruption, no criminality and no communalism,” he adds. 

The process of finding candidates for both elections has begun, say party members. Prithvi Reddy says that in 183 constituencies, they have received applications from at least three candidates, ranging from first-time politicians. Former and sitting MLAs from other parties will also join them soon, according to Reddy.

With the induction of former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao and farmer leader Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, the party has been trying to project itself as a serious alternative to those who are disillusioned with the three main parties in the state.  

AAP silent on communal attacks

But in a bid to maintain its ‘ideological neutrality’, the party has stayed conspicuously silent on a host of important communal attacks on minorities and marginalised communities across the country. But recently in Delhi, CM Kejriwal was seen wearing religion on his sleeve.

A self-proclaimed ‘Hanuman Bhakt’ (devotee of Hindu deity Hanuman), Kejriwal and members of his party were seen organising grand and elaborate public celebrations of festivals like Diwali with chants of ‘Jai Sri Ram’ echoing in the air. From installing a model of the proposed Ram Mandir to announcing pilgrimage to Ayodhya with taxpayers expense the AAP’s flirting with soft Hindutva has been bordering on bigotry in some cases. When Delhi witnessed communal riots in 2020, AAP was missing on ground. When anti-CAA protests were being held in Shaheen Bagh and other places, AAP leaders chose to stay away from the issue. 

AAP’s Somnath Bharti recently said “People are getting attracted by the Kejriwal Model of work and commitment, and leaving behind hate politics”. But on ground, even in Karnataka, AAP has been side-stepping issues of communal tension the state has been witnessing over the last ten months. 

Prithvi Reddy, who denied this allegation said that rather than talking about real issues of providing good education or providing three meals a day, BJP is talking about non-issues like hijab and halal. “We are not willing to talk about all this till you fix the basic issues. So we are trying to bring back focus on the real issues.Hijab is not an issue in government schools in Delhi because everybody, irrespective of being Hindu, Christian or Muslim, want their children to attend school and follow rules,” he said. 

His party colleague Dasari too responded almost identically. Dasari said, “Our stand on the hijab issue is this—60% of government schools don’t have toilets for girls. This impacts Hindu girls too. So fix that first. This government is not keeping the interests of Hindus. Why are they talking about hijab?”

Further defending his party, Dasari said, “We are always a people’s party, we will stand for solving people’s problems. We do not believe in being either a leftist or right-leaning party. Our ideology is just based on the Constitution. Look at what we have done in Delhi in terms of education and health care—we don’t differentiate between religions and caste”. 

Alternative to BJP

But a source close to Kejriwal says that the party currently has no concrete ideology and is only looking to fill the political vacuum left by the Congress in a few states. “Kejriwal had been constantly speaking against Modi until a couple of years ago but has gone completely silent after that. I am told this was after his advisors told him to not attack Modi but become an alternative to Modi. The idea is to become the answer to the question of who the alternative to Modi is and for that taking an anti-hindu or Hindutva stand is not useful,” the source said. 

An insider said that those who are disillusioned with the BJP but don't want to vote for the Congress are AAP’s target, along with the growing middle class. 

On AAP’s majority appeasement, the source said, “Kejriwal does believe the narrative of Hindu victimhood to a large extent. Not just for politics. So agreeing with the BJP or the Sangh Parivar on a lot of issues related to Hindutva, ‘Nationalism, comes naturally to him”. 

The AAP also has an image of being seen as a ‘Hindi’ party in the south. “The very name Aam Aadmi Party can alienate people so the party is going by the abbreviation AAP in southern states. But that too might not be enough to shake off the Hindi-party image. In addition to that, Kejriwal speaking Hindi in states like Kerala and Karnataka does not help,” an insider said. 

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