AAP to focus on 'positive' issues instead of attacking PM Modi

In a major strategy shift for the coming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to shift its focus from targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to 'positive campaigning'. It will resort to what it did during the 2015 Delhi Assembly polls—convince the electorate about the positive work done by the government, said a senior party leader.

On Friday, a day after the Rajouri Garden by-election results were announced, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal also demanded that the municipal polls be "postponed" by a month or two till arrangements are made to use VVPAT-equipped machines along with EVMs. He met the Delhi State Election Commissioner and alleged that "redundant" pre-2006 electronic voting machines (EVMs) that had been "junked" and can be "hacked even by a child" are going to be used in the April 23 municipal polls.

"He (the SEC) said he will write to the Chief Election Commissioner. But there is just one week left for the polls. So there is no possibility of replacing the machines or bring VVPAT machines. So I told him to postpone it by one-two months by writing to the CEC," Kejriwal told reporters.

AAP's move to change the MCD election campaign strategy came in the wake of party's 'poor' performances in both the Punjab and Goa Assembly polls. While the party could win just 20 of the 117 seats in Punjab, it drew a blank in the 40-member Goa Assembly.

"We have seen the outcome of a positive campaign in the 2015 Assembly polls and will continue to do so for the MCD polls," said the leader. "We are adopting the same strategy used by the party in which we went to the people to convince them about the positive work done during our first 49-day government in Delhi."

According to some insiders, AAP's other reason for not targeting Modi personally in the MCD polls is the massive victory the BJP recently scored in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Delhi has a sizable voter population that comes from these two states. The AAP leader pointed out that attacking Modi directly during the MCD poll campaign might backfire.

The essence of AAP's strategy change can also be seen in Kejriwal's remarks in the wake of the party's disastrous performance in the Rajouri Garden by-poll.

He attributed the party's loss to the people's unhappiness over MLA Jarnail Singh leaving the seat to contest the Punjab polls. Kejriwal, however, stressed that this result would not impact AAP's performance in the coming MCD elections.

"There were several reasons why Jarnail Singh left the seat and went to fight the Punjab Assembly elections. He has done a lot for the Sikh community. But the people of Rajouri Garden did not like his act of leaving the seat," he said.

"Even I was getting feedback that the people of the constituency were unhappy over Jarnail leaving in the middle of his term," Kejriwal added.

He, however, said that this defeat would have no impact on the MCD elections scheduled to be held on April 23.