A day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) granted Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) the status of a national party, Delhi Chief Minister and party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that all “anti-national forces” that want to halt the country’s progress are against the party.
“All the anti-national forces that want to stop the progress of the country are against the AAP, but the almighty is with us,” Kejriwal said, and urged people to join the party to make India the number one country in the world.
Addressing party workers at AAP’s Delhi headquarters, Kejriwal described the newly-acquired status of a national party in a short span of 10 years a “miraculous and incredible” achievement, and said that it comes with a huge responsibility as well.
The AAP leader also remembered his colleagues Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain – who are presently lodged in jail – and told AAP volunteers to be prepared to go to prison if need be and said those scared of it should quit the party.
Kejriwal further said that the AAP’s ideology is based on three pillars – honesty, patriotism and humanity.
“The hope of crores of people from the AAP has now turned into faith. People have given us a huge responsibility and with the blessings of the god, we will honestly discharge it,” he said.
“I will be lucky if every drop of my blood is shed for the country,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal pointed out that there are 1,300 political parties in the country, of which only six enjoy the status of a national party and just three — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress and now, the AAP — have governments in more than one state, and claimed that AAP forced other political parties to promise that they will provide free electricity.
The six national parties Kejriwal spoke of include BJP, Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), CPI(M), National People’s Party (NPP) and his party AAP.
EC recognises AAP as national party
In a boost to the party, the EC on Monday recognised AAP as a national party, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, while parties such as Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Communist Party of India (CPI), lost their national party status.
The EC’s decision acting under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 was based on a review of the parties’ poll performances — the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 21 state assembly polls since 2014.
Its order said that the AAP had fulfilled the requirement of being a recognised state party in four or more states.