AAP's bid to poach BJP, Cong leaders in Himachal

Tribune News Service

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, March 19

After coming to power in Punjab, AAP has started strengthening its base in Himachal. AAP teams from Delhi are touring Kangra and other districts of lower Himachal and meeting various leaders, who are interested in joining the party.

Sources say that many disgruntled leaders of the BJP and the Congress have met the teams.

These leaders are expected to join AAP during the visit of national president of the party and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Shimla Cong secy joins party

• “Congress district Shimla secretary Ravi Dutt and many others joined AAP today,” said spokesperson Gaurav Sharma
• “From Baddi, around 20 people joined the party,” the spokesperson added
• It would select candidates for all 41 wards of the Shimla MC so that they could make people aware of their plans

Naresh Varmani is one of the prominent BJP leaders, who joined AAP. He is a former block president of the party from Nagrota Bagwan and former president of the Nagrota Municipal Council. Dr Varmani admits that he has ended his 30-year-old association with the BJP and joined AAP.

Varmani says that BJP MLA from Nagrota Bagwan Arun Kumar has failed to do anything for the constituency. AAP policies in Delhi and Punjab have given people, who are reeling under unemployment and the price rise, a hope. He hopes AAP will replicate its victory in Punjab in Himachal.

He says that he will join AAP in the presence of Arvind Kejriwal during his expected visit to Himachal in April 6.

The sources says that a two-member AAP team from Delhi is meeting prominent people in Kangra and other districts. Team members are asking leaders to come for interviews. Their inclusion in the party is being finalised and their names are being kept secret, as the party wants to make them public during Kejriwal’s visit.

The AAP drive to poach the disgruntled leaders has given both parties jitters. The Congress has lost its senior leaders Virbhadra Singh and GS Bali and is faction-ridden in the lower Himachal area. No Congress leader has been entrusted with the responsibility to keep the flock together.

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