I-PAC takes the field for AAP in Delhi as Kejriwal gears up for hat-trick bid in face of anti-incumbency

“Currently, a skeletal team has landed in Delhi. We are looking at the AAP’s campaign, both on the field and digital,” said a source in I-PAC, adding that a team of around 40-50 members would arrive next week. “More people will arrive, following which we will start work on a larger scale. By our estimates, the campaign must be around 70-80 days long.”

I-PAC was part of the AAP team that ran the party’s 2020 Delhi election campaign. The AAP won 62 of the 70 seats in the election while BJP won the rest and the Congress drew a blank.

The AAP faces almost 10 years of anti-incumbency and has been at the receiving end of Opposition criticism for its alleged failures on the development and civic issues front. An I-PAC official said a “new campaign” had been tailored to counter this narrative. “We are aware that the AAP government has been in the crosshairs of the Lieutenant Governor and there is a lingering power tussle. We have helped shape a new campaign that will highlight the deteriorating law and order in the city to make the people aware of the Centre’s failures while also showcasing the development works that the AAP government has undertaken,” sources said. Law and order in the national capital comes under the purview of the Central government.

The political consultancy firm’s return to Delhi has come on the back of a rough patch. From Goa in 2022, where it handled the campaign for the Trinamool Congress, to Andhra Pradesh earlier this year where Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s incumbent YSR Congress Party was reduced to 11 seats, I-PAC hopes to effect a turnaround in its own fortunes. “The past few years have not been good for us in terms of election results. But we have a fair idea about Delhi as we have worked here in the past. This time, we hope for better results like the Lok Sabha and Assembly bypoll results in West Bengal,” said an I-PAC insider.

I-PAC is also drawing confidence from its limited stint in Jharkhand, where it provided insights to the Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha of Jairam Mahato, which won only one seat but affected the outcome in at least 14 constituencies, largely benefitting the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led INDIA bloc.

“We did a campaign there (Jharkhand) on a small scale, about 9-10 seats, for around a month but the results are there for everyone to see. The JKLM did well in some seats and also ended up damaging the BJP’s prospects in a few others. If we can pull off something like this on a small scale in such a short time, imagine how the results will be if we are part of a full-fledged campaign,” claimed an I-PAC official.

Another senior I-PAC member said the team was aware that it was a “stiff challenge” for the firm. “It is a tough situation for us but we come out with our best when our backs are to the wall. Delhi will be the opening that we are looking for,” he said.