AAP's National Council To Meet Today To Discuss Expansion, Poll Strategy

All elected representatives of the AAP and its key office bearers from various states will discuss the party's pan-India expansion plan at its National Council meeting chaired by party convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday.

The Council will discuss at length the efforts taken so far to strengthen the AAP's base in different parts of the country and devise the party's strategy for the upcoming assembly polls due to be held in various states next year, with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, party sources told PTI.

The meeting to be attended by all 10 Rajya Sabha MPs of the AAP and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will also discuss the issue of "inflation, unemployment, and Chinese incursion” and pass separate resolutions on them, the sources said.

The meeting, which is expected to start at 10 am at a resort in Kapashera, assumes significance as it comes close after the just-concluded assembly polls in Gujarat, where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won five seats and secured nearly 13 percent vote share, becoming eligible for getting National Party status by the Election Commission.

The AAP also ended the 15-year rule of the BJP in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) by defeating the party in the civic body elections held earlier this month.

According to party sources, the day-long meeting will discuss the party's performance in the Gujarat assembly polls which was held in two phases on December 1 and December 5 The Gujarat unit of the AAP was hoping to win more than 45 seats in the 182-member Gujarat legislative assembly.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remained the biggest gainer in the three-cornered contest as it clinched a historic victory in Gujarat and retained power, winning 156 seats.

The Congress remained the main opposition in the state but ended up winning 17 seats and securing 27 per cent vote share with the AAP significantly eating up its space in the assembly elections.

"The meeting will discuss the AAP's performance in Gujarat assembly polls and plans to further strengthen the party's base in the state," a source in the party told PTI.

The AAP's Gujarat unit president Gopal Italia, state general secretary Manoj Sorathia, Isudan Gadhvi, who was the party's chief ministerial face during the elections, and all five newly-elected MLAs of the party from the state will be present at the meeting, according to the party sources.

"It's a very crucial meeting as it is happening for the first time after the party's achievements in Punjab, Goa, Gujarat, and MCD elections. This meeting is more significant because the AAP has become a national party now and we have our national expansion plan," another source in the party told PTI.

All the elected representatives (MLAs and MPs) of the AAP from Delhi, Punjab, Goa, and Gujarat as well as the key office bearers of the party's state units have been invited to attend the meeting," the source said. "They will talk about the political scenario in their respective states and update the council with the efforts taken so far to strengthen the party's base. They will share the party's future plans," the source said.

Based on their feedback, the party will fine-tune the strategy to execute its national expansion plan "with main focus on upcoming assembly elections in various states," the source added.

The party's poll strategist Sandeep Pathak, who was recently appointed as the AAP's national secretary (organisation), will "apprise the council members about the party's expansion plan" at the meeting, another source in the party said.

Mr Pathak, a former IIT-Delhi faculty member and a Rajya Sabha MP of the party, is credited for the AAP's stupendous victory in Punjab assembly polls. He was the AAP's election in-charge for Gujarat.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and other senior leaders of the party will be present at the day-long meeting, sources added.

The AAP's National Council is the party's highest policy-making body.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)