Arvind Kejriwal knows that even those loudly cheering his promises on education, health, and free power at his rallies in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh must have one question playing on their minds. So while winding up his speeches, the Delhi chief minister flashes a knowing smile, and spells it out: “Now, many people tell me that you make all big promises, but will you be able to form government in Uttar Pradesh?” After a pause, comes the answer. “Surveys shows that the contest is tight and the Assembly might be hung. Maybe our help will be needed to keep the BJP out. Jitne bhi seat humari aayegi aur agar hum sarkar mein jaate hai (however many seats we win, and if we get to join the government), then I promise to get all the promises fulfilled.” With the election entering its last leg in Uttar Pradesh, the AAP is focussing on about half a dozen seats, including Barabanki, Rudauli, and Khalilabad, where Kejriwal made these remarks at rallies on February 21-22. Following an aborted attempt to sign a pre-election pact with the Samajwadi Party (SP), the AAP in December decided to field candidates in all the 403 constituencies of the state. According to sources in the party, the talks were called off even before the issue of seat-sharing came up as the “SP was taking too much time and did not show much interest after a while”. On November 24, SP president Akhilesh Yadav tweeted a picture of his meeting with AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Dilip Pandey at his residence and captioned it: “Meeting, for a change”. But on December 22, Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, announced the AAP's plan to go it alone. Over the next two months, as the AAP leadership invested most of its resources in Punjab, Goa, and Uttarakhand, the party's UP campaign was left almost entirely on Singh who said the state police had, over the months, initiated 21 cases against him, including on sedition charges, for accusing the UP government of favouring a particular community. Previously, between September and October, the AAP used Uttar Pradesh for political messaging at the national level, with Kejriwal turning up at Ayodhya to perform puja on the banks of the Saryu and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia organising “tiranga yatras (Tricolour marches)". “The visit to Ram Temple in Ayodhya or the tiranga yatras were not just about UP. It was also about sending out a message to a Hindu voter in Punjab or a voter in Uttarakhand on how the AAP frames the debate on nationalism or religion. Only time will tell if the strategy was successful or not,” says an AAP leader. However, between his Ayodhya visit in October and the latest round of campaigning in Awadh and Purvanchal, Kejriwal addressed only one poll rally in UP — on January 2 in Lucknow. “Fighting all the seats was more about expanding organisation. But the party is hoping that in seats like Khalilabad and Rudauli, it will make gains,” adds another party leader. In Khalilabad, the party has fielded Subodh Yadav, the son of the late Bhalchandra Yadav, a two-time MP who represented both the SP and the BSP in the Lok Sabha. Party leaders pointed out that the AAP list overall had a sizeable number of post-graduates and a doctor, Ashish Jaiswal. In a symbolic move, Jaiswal travelled in an ambulance to file his nomination from the Varanasi (North) seat. “People often ask me what has the AAP achieved through its campaign in UP. I request them to look at the manifestos of the other parties. The AAP is in their manifestos. We have forced them to steal the issues like free power that we have consistently raised,” says Singh.
