Ashok Tanwar, ex-IPS officer Bhaskar Rao join AAP

The inductions show AAP's ambitions to make a mark in Haryana and Karnataka

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ITDC NEWS R  It was a day of high-profile inductions into the Aam Aadmi Party, as former Rahul Gandhi confidant Ashok Tanwar and ex-IPS officer Bhaskar Rao joined the party, indicating the party's ambitions to make a mark in Haryana and Karnataka following its stupendous victory in the assembly polls in Punjab.

Tanwar, who has previously served in various positions in the Congress, including state unit president in Haryana, and was recognised as a leader close to Rahul, was formally welcomed into the AAP by the party's national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Having quit the Congress in 2019 following an ugly run-in with party strongman Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Tanwar, a Dalit face, had, in November 2021, joined the Trinamool Congress. Before joining the TMC, he had launched a socio-political platform called 'Apna Bharat Morcha'.

After joining the AAP, Tanwar said that the party has emerged as a credible alternative in Indian politics. “The voice of the party is resonating with the common man across the country,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Rao, who has served as Additional Director General of Police, Railways, in Karnataka, and has also been police commissioner of Bengaluru, joined the party. The senior police officer had, on April 2, bid farewell to the service, posting on Twitter: “Last trip home after curtains down of 32 years in IPS. I have extreme gratitude to my family, the people of Karnataka and all my colleagues, friends, elders and young people in my life and finally the Governments of Karnataka across parties. Heading into choppy seas.”

“During my long service, I have seen the other parties inside out. I am impressed with the work done by the Kejriwal government in Delhi and I believe that Karnataka too should have the same kind of clean and transparent administration,” Rao said.

The induction of Tanwar and Rao is being viewed in connection with the AAP's expansion plans in Haryana and Karnataka, respectively and the party's bid to make a mark in the assembly elections in the two states. Haryana, currently ruled by the BJP, will go to polls in 2024, while Karnataka, where the BJP succeeded in toppling a Congress-JD(S) coalition government to come to power in 2021, will go to polls in 2023. The AAP's strategy to go national. hinges on building a support base in states where the Congress and the BJP are the main players as was the case in Delhi, the state where it first tasted success.