Strong e-presence will give AAP edge in Punjab polls: Raghav Chadha

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, January 11

The “new-age” Aam Aadmi Party sees itself at a great political advantage because of its strong digital presence in the wake of the recent Covid-induced guidelines of virtual campaigning by the Election Commission.

Chadha Files defamation suit

Chandigarh: Raghav Chadha (in pic) has filed a criminal defamation case in Delhi against a Patiala resident, Saurabh Jain, for attempting to harm his “goodwill and reputation in the eyes of citizenry of Punjab and NCT of Delhi”. It has been alleged Jain “has been issuing interviews on various media outlets, wherein false and fabricated allegations are levelled against Chadha with the mala fide objective of intimidating and harassing him”. Jain has been accused of trying to “obtain unwarranted political mileage”. TNS

Kejri’s Two-day visit from today

While Raghav Chadha refused to comment on the time for announcing the party’s CM face, sources say party supremo Arvind Kejriwal is expected to announce Bhagwant Mann as their face during his two-day visit from Wednesday.

“This helps us in our voter outreach, considering that at least three of the other four political outfits in the election fray are lagging far behind in their digital outreach initiatives. But, it may lead to a repeat of the 2017 Assembly polls, when other parties joined hands and transferred their votes to the Congress in a calculated manner to hurt AAP’s political prospects,” Raghav Chadha, co-incharge of party’s affairs for the state, told The Tribune.

“The only other party that can compete with the AAP on digital platforms is the BJP, but the saffron party is still finding it difficult to connect with voters in the rural constituencies in the wake of farm laws. All other parties, including the Congress and SAD, are controlled by the Prime Minister. Since the BJP has gauged that the people of Punjab are inimical towards it, it will try to repeat the strategy. However, this time, Punjabi voters, tired of the false promises of other parties, are keen on giving us a chance,” he said.

“The Congress has failed on all fronts in the past five years. Though the security lapse during the PM’s visit is a matter of investigation, it does prove that maintaining law and order is the biggest failure of the Channi government,” he said.

He accused the SAD and Congress of being hand in glove in all illegal “government-sanctioned businesses of sand, liquor, cable and transport”.