Aam Aadmi Party
आम आदमी पार्टी |
|
---|---|
Abbreviation | AAP |
Leader | Arvind Kejriwal |
Founder | Arvind Kejriwal and others |
Founded | 26 November 2012 |
Headquarters | 226, Rouse Avenue, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, ITO, New Delhi, India-08. |
Student wing | Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) |
Youth wing | Aam Aadmi Party Youth Wing |
Women's wing | AAP Ki Mahila Shakti |
Labour wing | Shramik Vikas Sangathan |
Ideology |
Democratic socialism Anti-corruption |
Political position | Centre Left |
Colours | |
ECI Status | State Party (Delhi & Punjab) |
National convener | Arvind Kejriwal |
Seats in Lok Sabha |
4 / 545
(currently 539 members + 1 Speaker) |
Seats in Rajya Sabha |
0 / 245
(currently 243 members) |
Election symbol | |
Broom | |
Website | |
www |
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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, English: Common Man's Party) is an Indian political party, formally launched on 26 November 2012, and is currently the ruling party of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. It came into existence following differences between the activists Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare regarding whether or not to politicise the popular India Against Corruption movement that had been demanding a Jan Lokpal Bill since 2011. Hazare preferred that the movement should remain politically unaligned while Kejriwal felt the failure of the agitation route necessitated a direct political involvement.
The party made its electoral debut in the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, where it emerged as the second-largest party, winning 28 of the 70 seats. With no party obtaining an overall majority, the AAP formed a minority government with conditional support from the Indian National Congress. A significant part of its agenda was to quickly introduce the Jan Lokpal bill in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. When it became clear after the election that the other major parties would not support this bill, the AAP government resigned. It had been in power for 49 days.
In the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, AAP won 67 of the 70 seats in the assembly. Among two national political parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 3 seats, while the Indian National Congress did not win any.
The AAP has its origins in the India Against Corruption movement organised by Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and some other social activists who had been involved in Team Anna, a strand of the anti-corruption movement for a Jan Lokpal Bill that had gained momentum in India during 2011 and 2012. Hazare had wanted to keep the movement politically neutral but Kejriwal considered that direct involvement in politics was necessary because attempts to obtain progress regarding the Jan Lokpal Bill through talks with existing political parties had, in his opinion, achieved nothing. A survey conducted on a Facebook page that purported to be operated by India Against Corruption and other social networking services had indicated that there was wide support for politicisation. Hazare rejected the poll, saying "elections require huge funds, which will be tough for activists to organise without compromising on their values". He also said it would be difficult to ensure that candidates are not corrupted once elected. Hazare and Kejriwal agreed on 19 September 2012 that their differences regarding a role in politics were irreconcilable. Kejriwal had support from some anti-corruption movement activists, such as Prashant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan, but was opposed by others such as Kiran Bedi and Santosh Hegde. On 2 October, Kejriwal announced that he was forming a political party and that he intended the formal launch to be on 26 November, coinciding with the anniversary of India's adoption of its Constitution in 1949.