Assembly elections 2022 | AAP’s takeaways from U.P., Uttarakhand, Goa

Party plans to contest local polls, boost booth-level organisation to fix what went wrong, say leaders.

Fighting local elections, building organisation in weaker areas, surveys and meetings with workers and candidates to identify what went wrong — these are the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) plans for three out of the four States where they had fought the Assembly elections and failed to form the government, party leaders told The Hindu .

AAP had contested Assembly elections in Punjab, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In Punjab, the party swept the polls by winning 92 out of 117 seats, whereas in Goa it won two seats. But in the two other States, it failed to notch up a single seat.

Several party insiders also pointed out that AAP was unable to turn the election into ‘AAP versus BJP’ in these States. Moreover, not having a strong organisational structure hurt the party in many areas. So, forming committees in every booth in these States will be a top priority, leaders said.

But the huge win in Punjab has given a morale boost to the party workers across the country, they said.

Talking about Goa, Durgesh Pathak, who is in-charge of AAP’s national organisation building team, said they are in the process of taking feedback from workers and candidates.

“From March 25-27, I will be visiting Goa. We will plan on how to go forward. Also, there will be restructuring of party posts and we will be inducting new faces. In Goa, the party will also fight panchayat elections in April-May next year,” he said.

He added it is a big deal for the party that it has opened its account in Goa and won two seats and they are taking it “very positively”.