AAP hoping to shake up Delhi’s student politics with launch of ASAP?

Aam Aadmi Party launched the Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP), a new students’ wing which will replace the existing Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) and subsequently aim to connect students from 50,000 colleges across India.

 

Speaking at the event, party convener Arvind Kejriwal urged students to join active politics. "Now, most of the young people don’t want to do anything with politics. Whether you will get electricity or not, get jobs or not, but there is politics in it, he said, “You cannot stay away from politics.”

 

This is also the first time Kejriwal attended a public event in Delhi outside the AAP headquarters since he and the party lost the Delhi Assembly election in February this year.

 

The launch event took place at the Speaker Hall, Constitution Club of India, in central Delhi. After an unexpected setback in Delhi assembly elections, AAP is trying to reposition itself and therefore expand its base by relaunching the students’ wing.

 

The relaunch of the students’ wing also comes just days after 15 AAP councillors in Delhi quit the party and formed a new political party.

 

Moreover, party supremo Kejriwal appears to be pursuing strategic objectives in order to come back stronger in the political landscape. "Kejriwal has chosen bottom-up approach to strengthen the party and spread the political ideology of his party, which revolves around clear governance and anti-corruption," an expert said.

 

According to analysts, students represent a substantial demographic, having the potential to impact public opinion and elections. By forming ASAP, Kejriwal is likely targeting to ramp up grassroots support base for the AAP; particularly in states beyond Punjab and Delhi – the party has already established a significant presence in these two states.

 

“We were in power in Delhi for 10 years. The politics we did in Delhi is called alternative politics. Giving good education to all is not part of mainstream politics, but it’s part of our alternative politics,” he added.

 

As CYSS was largely unsuccessful in Delhi’s student politics, the students’ wing relaunch could also be the party's gameplan to obtain influence in educational institutions which act as a key battleground for long-term political mobilisation. With this, the party will pitch itself in competition with other student organisations like the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP, linked to BJP) and National Student Union India (NSUI) tied to the Congress. 

India