Shimla: In a bid to emerge as the third alternative in Himachal Pradesh's bipolar politics, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) picked up Mandi — Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur's home district — to kick-start its early election campaign for this year's Assembly elections in the BJP bastion.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is also the national convenor of the party, reached Mandi to an impressive welcome where Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also joined him at a roadshow and rally that drew quite an impressive crowd.
At the rally, Kejriwal made his intentions clear that the party was a serious contender for power for the next poll and will provide a clean and corruption-free government — almost on the lines of Delhi and Punjab.
"We don't know politics. We just know how to run good schools and eradicate corruption. Just try to know from your relatives in Punjab, how the corruption has disappeared after the formation of the new government. We will replicate the same in Himachal, " Kejriwal declared.
He claimed that both BJP and Congress had been replacing each other, after every five years without doing anything noteworthy for the people. Corruption is the biggest problem which will be dealt with sternly.
Delhi CM said, "People of Himachal Pradesh have given 30 years to the congress to rule and another 17 years to BJP. I am asking for five years, if we don't do anything, vote us out but give it a try."
He also attacked BJP and Congress for promoting dynastic politics which has no place in the AAP. Here a common man can become Chief Minister in Punjab.
Bhagwant Mann also spoke to strike a chord with people of Mandi reminding that he has done stage shows in Mandi Shivratri.
"The crowd is almost the same as the one I mostly draw in Sangrur (Punjab). For me, it looks almost the same," he said.
Though BJP had no credible face in the state to lead the party, Kejriwal has certainly become a new buzzword in the state in the election season when the Congress has found itself completely in disarray and caught up in a situation where the party doesn't have a leader with a mass appeal after Virbhadra Singh.
Yet Congress claims that AAP will not be able to dent its prospects. The people of the hills have a different culture and psyche.
"We are people having altitude and attitude. AAP is a party of persons unfamiliar with issues of the mountains. What corruption AAP is talking about when its own leaders like Satyendra Jain, Delhi health minister, have been booked by the ED, " alleged Kaushal Mungta, a Zila Parishad member in Shimla from the congress.
Meanwhile, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, who was also in Mandi said, "Every political party has right to promote itself. We are not worried about AAP holding rallies in the state. But, the people will not tolerate the attempt to defame Devbhumi racking–up issues like corruption. No one has ever found a single instance of corruption against the BJP government. We will form the next government, " said Thakur.