AAP to hold national executive meet, plans to become cadre-based like BJP

After the massive win in Delhi Assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has called a national executive meeting on Sunday as it has plans for expansion and to move towards positive nationalism like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

AAP has started preparing to make the party a cadre-based party.

When AAP's Delhi convenor Gopal Rai was asked about the party's new slogan and direction, he said, "The AAP is now moving towards positive nationalism. BJP is doing politics of hatred and negative nationalism. We believe that there should be politics in the name of work and development."

Asked about the party's future strategy, Rai said that the "Delhi government has its own agenda and we will start working on it".

"Apart from this, more focus will be on Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). BJP has ruled MCD for 15 years. There is so much dirt and garbage in Delhi that it does not seem that we live in the capital of the country. At the same time, a nation-building campaign has been launched, which the party will take forward in the whole country," he said.

"In the national executive meeting on February 16, we will decide on how many more people can join us. After this, their training will be arranged. Then, we will move towards forming a cadre-based party. We will also focus on some states," he added.

Commenting on the Delhi Assembly elections, Rai said that the people of Delhi liked the party's positive campaigning and said it reached out to masses by highlighting the development works of the AAP government.

"We were disappointed with Lok Sabha polls' results as we failed to secure a single seat. However, the party immediately started preparing for the Vidhan Sabha elections without resting. First, we formed the Kejriwal brigade, in which we recruited and trained 600 volunteers. We reached out to masses to discuss the government's work," he stated.

"We held 6,000 indoor meetings and received a positive response. People of Delhi did not entertain BJP's politics of hatred. They liked our positive campaign. We fought this election systematically. Kejriwal had monitored the entire campaign himself," Rai further said.

The AAP won 62 of the 70 Assembly seats in Delhi, while BJP managed just eight seats. The Congress, which failed to open its account in the 2015 election, drew a blank yet again.