AAP to contest elections in six states next year: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

File image: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (Image: PTI)

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will contest assembly elections in six states in the next two years, party's national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on January 28. Kejriwal made the announcement while speaking at AAP’s national council meeting.

The six states are Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

The party’s attempts to play a larger role at the national level have failed in the past, except in Punjab where it emerged as the main opposition party in the 2017 assembly polls.

However, AAP’s exceptional electoral performance in the 2020 Delhi assembly polls, winning 62 out of the 70 seats, has renewed the party's desire to expand its footprint beyond the national capital and Punjab.

Read | AAP to contest UP Assembly polls 2022: Arvind Kejriwal

AAP has won the assembly elections in Delhi thrice. Kejriwal, who is AAP's national convener besides being the Delhi chief minister, had unsuccessfully taken on Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections -- a year after AAP first came to power in Delhi.

The party has been making statements about contesting local body and assembly elections in multiple states. In Gujarat, for example, the party will contest all seats in the upcoming local bodies elections.