AAP membership: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has claimed that more than 10 lakh people joined the party within 24 hours of the declaration of the result on February 11. The AAP led by Arvind Kejriwal returned to power with a stunning victory, bagging 62 of the 70 seats Assembly seats in the national capital.
“More than 1 million people have joined AAP within 24 hours of our massive victory,” the AAP tweeted from its official Twitter handle.
The party shared a mobile number for people who wish to join the party. The tweet also features a photo of AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal along with a message, “Join the revolution. Join the AAP.”
The Aam Aadmi Party is a regional political party. Though it has units in different states, it has a strong base in Delhi. The party was floated by Kejriwal in November 2012 after differences between Kejriwal and Anna Hazare on giving the India Against Corruption movement a political direction. While Hazare preferred that the movement should remain politically unaligned, Kejriwal felt political involvement was crucial to the success of the agitation.
The AAP contested its first election in Delhi in 2013 and won 28 seats. The party formed the government with the support of the Congress. However, the government led by Arvind Kejriwal resigned after 49 days.
The party again contested elections in Delhi in February 2015 and pulled out a stunning victory. It won 67 of the 70 seats and formed a government under Kejriwal’s leadership. The Aam Aadmi Party also contested several state elections and general elections in 2014 and 2019, but failed to perform well. The AAP, however, gained the status of opposition party in Punjab where it won 20 seats.
The party won only four seats in 2014 and 1 seat in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In 2014, Kejriwal himself contested against then BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from Varanasi. The party has three MPs in the Rajya Sabha.