Karnataka assembly elections 2018: AAP to contest on policy not personality

The Aam Aadmi Party will contest the upcoming Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018. While party general Secretary and Karnataka in charge Pankaj Gupta made the official announcement, Arvind Kejriwal's party is yet to decide on the number of seats it will contest out of the 224 seats in the state.

"After conducting an internal survey and carrying out surveys to assess the mood of the people, the AAP has decided to contest the Karnataka Assembly elections. People are tired of choosing between the devil and the deep sea and we come with the promise of better governance," said Pankaj Gupta, General Secretary, AAP. The party carried out surveys in sample constituencies with 100 people each to assess its standing. The party is yet to identify candidates to field as well as the constituencies to contest from. "There is no rift in the party's centre and state unit about contesting from all constituencies. We only have varied opinions but decisions will be taken after thorough evaluation," Gupta added.

Prithvi Reddy, the state convenor of the party will contest in the upcoming assembly elections. "Ours is a policy-driven party and not a personality-driven party. We will field winnable candidates. You will see the changes our manifesto has to offer. The support we have been receiving from the people is great," he said. The party had unsuccessfully contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and failed to get a single seat from Karnataka. This time around, however, the party believes that things on the ground have changed making it confident of contesting the assembly elections. Karnataka assembly election 2018 is expected to be a three-way battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular). Parties like AIMIM and now the AAP has also entered the electoral fray.