In an interview, AAP national convener, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, discusses the prospects of AAP and the INDIA alliance in the coming Lok Sabha polls. Excerpts:How many seats is AAP going to win in Lok Sabha polls?Every seat the Aam Aadmi Party fights in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, it will be to win it. We don’t believe in coming no. 2. We will be fighting in several states, including Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat, Goa, Assam and Haryana. Since we are a part of the INDIA alliance, our final seat-sharing arrangement will be decided together with the Congress and other alliance partners. But we are getting a clear message from the ground that people are ready for change.Apart from Delhi and Punjab, will you be able to make your presence felt in other states?We are not here to mark our presence in other states. We fight only if we can win. Our MLAs in Gujarat and Goa are very popular and in a short span, they have done tremendous work — much more than the ruling government. So we have nominated sitting MLAs as Lok Sabha candidates in Gujarat and Goa. We have made major inroads into Haryana with a proper cadre and a sizeable following there.You said a united fight is needed to take on BJP. But it seems there is hardly any unity among opposition parties. What’s the road ahead?I still maintain that. Seat-sharing talks are still on among the INDIA alliance partners and I am hopeful that a resolution will be reached very soon. Let me remind you that the vote share of BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was only 38%. That means over 62% of people in this country did not vote for them. Now the situation is worse, as the country is in the midst of multiple crises. There are no jobs, the inflation has broken the back of every household, rural consumption is at a historic low, farmers are on the streets, Manipur is still burning and China is staring at us on our borders. This government has failed on all fronts.If you compare BJP preparations with the opposition, it is almost nothing… The sin that the BJP has committed on the people of India through their misgovernance over the last 10 years cannot be washed away by holding a convention or doing public stunts. The 140 crore people of India are watching. They are silent voters but it is them who are going to decide the fate of the BJP and not those thousands of delegates.Those who believe that Modi’s charisma is going to work once again are sadly mistaken.Recently, you moved a trust vote in the assembly. What inspired you to do it?I had tabled the motion on February 16 in response to the ‘Operation Lotus’ launched once again on AAP MLAs in Delhi. The idea was to prove that my government enjoyed the majority in the House as all my party MLAs supported me.
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