Nagaland Election 2023: AAP exits state assembly poll race

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Nagaland on Tuesday decided not to file any candidate despite dozen aspirants seeking tickets for the upcoming Nagaland Assembly poll, which will take place on February 27.

The decision came two days after the party resolved to announce its candidate list on February 7, the last day for filing nominations.

AAP Nagaland President, Asu Keyho, in an update on Tuesday, stated that “on scrutiny, the criteria to be the official candidate was found wanting and that minimum expected eligible candidate could not be found for want of limited time since the Aam Aadmi Party Nagaland was launched only on Jan. 25, 2023”.

He added the party will venture into enrollment of membership and appealed to all like-minded people, ‘who subscribe to a new vision of governance and deliverance for the people of the state, to join hands and meet the challenges with a new hope in the coming days’.

The decision was made in consultation with the Northeast in-charge, Rajesh Sharma.

AAP Nagaland tweet:

“@AamAadmiParty will never encourage dirty politics as others are doing in Nagaland. We urge the honest people of #Nagaland to come forward and take charge for a change.”- NE Incharge Rajesh Sharma @beingAAPian @ArvindKejriwal https://t.co/rmgZ3k0Clu

— AAPNagaland (@AAP4Nagaland) February 6, 2023

AAP on Sunday had extended invitation to ‘like-minded candidates’ to come forward and join the party stating that it would wait till February 7 to announce the list.

Sharma had informed that a total of 14 intending candidates approached the party for tickets. Accordingly, their profiles were scrutinised but most of them did not match the criteria and the party had to wait for two more days.

Sharma had also said the party’s challenges included screening “clean profiles” and financial conditions. ‘The party is a very small party and has very limited resources to expand to all the states. But, it decided to start making its entrance in Nagaland when approached by the people of the state,’ he said during the official launching of AAP Nagaland in Kohima last month.

It may be mentioned that AAP contested the 2018 state assembly election but failed to make a breakthrough into Nagaland’s political front.

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