With Raghav Chadha at helm, can AAP do a repeat of Punjab in Gujarat?

New Delhi, Sep 19: Aam Aadmi Party, which is portraying itself as a key challenger to Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat has appointed Raghav Chadha as a co-incharge for the upcoming state assembly elections. The party is going ahead full throttle and making all attempts to find its feet in the state and Chadha is their latest move in their preparedness.

The AAP's move to appoint Raghav Chadha to oversee poll preparations in Gujarat appears to be a reward after he ensured a thumping for AAP in Punjab. Besides, it also means that the party is now looking at him to do a repeat of Punjab in Gujarat.

Chadha was one of the co-architects of AAP's massive victory in Punjab, where it bagged 97 out of 117 seats, decimating the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal, and the BJP.

Raghav Chadha also played a key role in Delhi as well where the party retained power with a majority in 2020.

Chadha is one of the closest aides of AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Reportedly, Chadha will head the units leading the election campaign, media strategies, and distribution of tickets, a set of tasks that has striking similarities with the role he played ahead of the Punjab polls.

Gujarat, which has become BJP's bastion for 27 years, will go to the polls later this year.

Ahead of the elections, Kejriwal has set a clear target for Gujarat where the BJP and the Congress are in a direct contest.

AAP's top two leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia have been continuously leading rallies in poll-bound Gujarat, promising the Delhi model of governance.

The party has also promised a series of 'freebies', in a bid to upstage the BJP and put up a robust performance in the year-end Assembly polls.

Kejriwal has anchored his party's campaign around a slew of sops like 300 units of free electricity per month, free education in government schools, unemployment dole, Rs 1,000 allowance to women and a monthly stipend to new lawyers, among others.

The AAP chief has launched a blistering attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing it of trying to "crush" the Aam Aadmi Party in the name of fighting corruption.

He alleged that the Modi government has been trying to frame his party ministers and leaders in false corruption cases as the BJP is "not able to digest the growing popularity of the AAP in Gujarat".

The BJP which has been ruling Gujarat for nearly thirty years now is looking to retain the state amid challenges by the AAP.

During the 2017 elections, the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership continued its winning streak, while the AAP failed to impress the people of the state.

In fact, NOTA (None of the Above) option got 2.5 times more votes than the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the 29 seats that the party contested in Gujarat.