2019 Lok Sabha polls: National Capital to witness aggressive online campaigning

Even before any other political party sounds bugle for 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has placed it men on ground to start a door-to-door campaign. On the day when other political parties were glued to know the result of assembly elections in five states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana — AAP chief and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting with party MPs, MLAs, councilors and office bearers sounding the poll bugle.

With slogan 'Wo rokhte rahein, hum kaam karte rahein' (they stopped us, we continued with our work), Kejriwal directed to start the door-to-door campaign from December 14, 2018, and asked his party workers not to miss any house in Delhi.

The party has decided to fight Lok Sabha polls in four states — Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana. The state presidents have been also been directed to launch the door-to-door campaign.

The party workers have been directed to expose Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule at the Centre and highlight governance in Delhi. Kejriwal has given directions to his party workers to tell the people that the sitting BJP MPs carried out hurdles in development work in the parliamentary constituencies, however, it was AAP which managed to do various developmental works in those areas. The party workers have been directed to showcase the development works in Delhi schools and Mohalla clinics.

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Further, party sources said that AAP wants to tie up with Congress to take on the sitting BJP government at the Centre. Sources also said that the party want to be part of the anti-BJP alliance of the regional parties along with the Congress for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In Delhi, however, Congress president Ajay Maken has opposed this move which has irked the senior party leaders of AAP. AAP has now plans to approach former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to come up with some kind of a political alignment in other states, along with Delhi.

In these four states, Kejriwal has directed to make "AAP Kendra" at each booth and constitute a team of 10 volunteers. These volunteers' job will be focussed on the door-to-door campaign. The AAP Kendra will comprise data about the voters, money spent in the areas by local leaders and the development works to be carried out. These AAP Kendras will be supported by the party's IT team wherein there will be aggressive online localised campaign against the sitting parliamentarian.

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Further, sources also said that the party workers have been asked to prepare a detailed status report of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ambitious project — Model Village — and highlight what all works have not been done in those villages. "The idea is to take the poll contest to local level where local MPs' misgovernance can be highlighted," said the source.

Currently, the party is preparing a media strategy to enhance campaigning and to convert voters mood in their favour.

It was in October 2018 that AAP actually began a nationwide drive to appeal for donations. This, keeping the 2019 elections in mind mainly and also state elections in Rajasthan Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Named Aap Ka Daan, Rashtra Ka Nirmaan (your donation will develop the nation), the political party prized itself for launching a unique initiative to collect money from people, the rationale being that it would not take donations from corrupt industrialists.

According to AAP, this is probably the first time any political party had devised a donation-drive of this nature. "This is going to be a model for the rest of the world," Kejriwal is said to have announced then.

The drive asked AAP volunteers to give names of five people who would donate a minimum of Rs 100 every month. People could also call and ask volunteers to come to their homes and collect the money.

The step is part of efforts to ensure that the party has a systematic flow of donations as it looks to contest elections in the forthcoming general elections, as well as the state elections in Rajasthan.