Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will visit Himachal Pradesh this week to participate in a Tiranga Yatra organised by his party's state unit in Palampur in the run up to the assembly polls in the hill state. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will also visit the state to join Kejriwal in the event scheduled to be held in the assembly constituency on Tuesday, the party said on Sunday.
This will be second visit of the AAP supremo and Mann to the poll-bound state within a month. "AAP's national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal will visit Himachal Pradesh on July 12 to participate in Tiranga Yatra in Palampur on July 12. Punjab Chief Minister Mann will also participate in the event," the party said in a statement.
The Delhi chief minister and his Punjab counterpart had on June 11 participated in a town hall meeting organised in Hamirpur district to deliberate on the state of education in Himachal Pradesh. While addressing the gathering, Kejriwal and Mann had urged the voters give Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) a chance in the upcoming assembly elections, promising to overhaul the education and healthcare system in the state, currently ruled by the BJP.
"If you want the 8.5 lakh students studying in Himachal Pradesh government schools to have a bright future, give a chance to the AAP," Kejriwal had said. Having tasted success in the the assembly elections earlier this year, the BJP and the AAP are looking to repeat their strong showing in the Himachal Pradesh polls as well due later this year while the Congress, having swept the 2021 state bypolls, is hoping for a turnaround after a string of poll losses.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to retain power in the hill state, as it did in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Riding high on its stupendous victory in Punjab assembly polls, the AAP is looking to make inroads into Himachal Pradesh, projecting itself as an alternative to the BJP and the Congress both. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced that it will contest all 68 seats in the upcoming assembly elections in the state.
(With PTI Inputs)
