With AAP fielding over 425 candidates across the country for the Lok Sabha elections, the party will not be in a position to contest the assembly polls in four States due to lack of resources.
Odisha, Andhra Pradesh (Telangana and Seemandhra), Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh will go to polls along with general elections. AAP has fielded candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in all these States. However, the party has not fielded candidates for assembly elections here.
“We simply don’t have the resources to contest elections in the State and we have taken a well-thought decision on this issue.
“More importantly, if we go for the assembly elections we will tend to lose focus on the Lok Sabha polls, which the party cannot afford to do,” said a senior AAP leader.
Funding is a major issue for the party as it has decided to field the maximum candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Until now it has fielded over 425 candidates and is yet to declare candidates for a few seats including, Vadodara, the second seat from where Narendra Modi is contesting after Varanasi.
The party also cannot afford to spare volunteers nor its leaders as almost all top party leaders are focussing on the national Capital, where it has a lot at stake because of its eroding base.
After Delhi, the focus of the leaders and volunteers will turn to Varanasi and Amethi from where Arvind Kejriwal is taking on Modi and Kumar Vishwas is contesting against Rahul Gandhi respectively. There will also be no time for the party leaders to focus on other States.
Party sources said although it is has been well received in States such as Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, it is yet to reach a stage where it can be a player in the assembly elections. It is yet to spread its tentacles in the North-East States of the country.
It will, however, field candidates for the bye-elections in Gujarat, a State where it intends to claim the space of the Congress, the main opposition party in the state.
The party, however, has pinned high hopes in Haryana and Maharashtra, which will go to the polls later this year. This will give the party enough time to prepare for the Lok Sabha polls.
Both these States have a large number of AAP volunteers.
Interestingly, of the few States Kejriwal has visited for campaigning, he has spent over two-three days in Maharashtra, Haryana and Karnataka keeping assembly elections in mind.
“We will also know our electoral strength in the assemblies of different States after the elections. We can then field our candidates for assembly elections next time or in some States where we will have immediate elections like Maharashtra and Haryana,” said a party leader.