‘…Ab Rajasthan ki Baari Hai’: AAP Celebrates Nat’l Status on Day It First Won Delhi in 2013

The stage was set, yellow and blue balloons intact, dhols, patriotic numbers playing aloud — the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) headquarters on Thursday had not quite come out of the mode of celebrations of its Wednesday’s Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) poll win.

Although upset over its poor show in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, the party had a small reason to cheer – the national status. A political party requires at least 6% vote share in four states to fulfil the criteria of being accorded the status of a national party. The AAP, so far, had it in Delhi, Punjab and Goa. Now with Gujarat, they will be recognised as a national party.

​Also, December 8 is the day when the party, a complete newbie, won its first election — the Delhi assembly — in 2013, making the status even more historic.

The AAP leaders said 35 lakh people in the state voted for it despite it being a den of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

With songs like ‘Abhi abhi to Gujarat mein humne entry mari hai, ab Rajasthan ki baari hai…ab Lal Qila par jhadhu ki baari hai’ and slogans such as ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, the party celebrated its entry into the state, which party leaders said was a “window opened by the people of the state and soon the AAP will break the door to it”.

Calling it a “big feat” and “a moment of pride”, senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh extended “heartfelt” thanks to the people of Gujarat and said the results across states show that “Desh me hawa badal rahi hai (The winds are changing in the country)” and that the BJP must remain mindful of it.

EVENTFUL DAY

Around 9 am as early trends started emerging, which gave the AAP eight to 13 seats, there was an uneasy calm seen at the AAP office, where party workers said the crowd will start picking up here as the day progresses. And it did.

By 12.30 pm, the compound was abuzz with activity, senior leaders such as Singh and Gopal Rai coming in, dholwallahs beating the drum to the top, workers dancing to the beats, boondi laddoos and tea being distributed under a crisp winter sun. Right after, two autorickshaws full of packets of sweets and snacks arrived at the office.

The party waited till 2 pm for the trends to get clearer and for a confirmation from the Election Commission on its ‘national’ status to make a formal announcement.

Soon after, there was loud cheer and slogans being raised in the ground where three senior party leaders — Singh, Gopal Rai and Pankaj Gupta — arrived to address party workers and the media.

By 4pm, the party had won five seats, with 13% vote share.

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