Delhi power crisis gives AAP's poll campaign an opening boost

As the threat of recurring power cuts over the next 20 days looms over Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party has found an opening to boost its flagging fortunes in the capital city. A systematic campaign will hit the roads soon, in typical AAP-style, with a view to spreading awareness on the power companies, the discoms and the generators, and their alleged nexus in the power trade. “The people of Delhi have to be told now that “acche din” have really come and that they too are realising it,” said a senior AAP  member. The Delhi unit of AAP plans to launch a systematic campaign on the issue. The party, still recovering from a jarring performance in the Lok Sabha elections, is set to launch a city-wide campaign which, party leaders believe, will help it gain ground and the confidence of voters that it lost in Delhi. However, based on its experience as a player in electoral politics instead of just being a pressure group, the party has decided that this campaign will be a key moment to recuperate in Delhi – so the campaign will be more organised and not conducted in haste. [caption id=“attachment_1525835” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image of AAP supporters in Delhi. AFP.[/caption] Senior party leaders have also said that while volunteers will take to the streets, this will not be the only card up their sleeves. “The street protests will obviously take place but we will at the  same time run a systematic campaign across platforms,” informed Nagender Sharma, a spokesperson for the party. According to sources in the party, it is going to launch a campaign on FM targeting the nexus of discoms, electricity generator and everyone else involved in the trade of power. The party wants to raise another serious issue in connection with power distribution in Delhi, which it brands as discriminating. The NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Corporation) area in Delhi or the Lutyen’s Delhi as it is popularly known is connected to the central grid, whereas the areas in Delhi that  fall under the ambit of MCD (municipal corporation of Delhi) is connected to the northern grid, which is far less stable in terms of power supply. The northern grid which is prone to breakdowns, had made Delhi witness one of the worst power crises in 2012, when the city plunged into darkness for three consecutive days. “Why is it that the ruling elite of Delhi will get uninterrupted power supply from the central grid when the rest of the city languishes,” questioned a leader of the party, who claimed that the party will soon launch a campaign to show that these outcomes are natural if a government is not run by a democratically elected party. However, insiders confirm that it will take caution when conducting on-the-ground street protests. “A section of media has already branded us as a party of protestors, which sent out a negative message to people. We are concerned that this has to change and we must take people back into confidence.”