ARRESTS HAVE ACCELERATED PARTY EXPANSION

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW SANDEEP PATHAK national general secretary, AAP, and Rajya Sabha member

- SONI MISHRA

AN IIT professor-turned-politician, Sandeep Pathak first shot into the limelight when he was credited with guiding the AAP to its spectacular victory in Punjab in 2022. He usually keeps a low profile and works behind the scenes. But, Pathak spoke to THE WEEK about the challenges his party is facing, including the situation in Punjab, and its expansion plans. Excerpts:

Q/ Last year was good for the AAP. What does 2023 look like, especially since it has not started on a positive note for you?

A/ We made a deep impact in 2022. We formed our government in Punjab. In Gujarat, we fought the BJP head-on and the result was encouraging. Yes, 2023 has not begun on a positive note. We are ordinary people. I have not seen a police station in my life. And perhaps these leaders (Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain) had also not seen a police station before. But, we knew it was not going to be easy. We are taking on a party which is ruthless and does not believe in ethics.

I will tell you the other side of the story. Had we not been important, they would not have bothered doing all this. The BJP feels threatened. They know only Kejriwal can take them head-on. They know how to deal with Rahul Gandhi and the Congress. They do not know how to deal with us. They thought they will restrict us in Delhi. They tried to restrict us in Punjab. They hoped our downfall would begin in Gujarat. But the support we got there gave a clear message that we are here to fight. So, they have become even more ruthless. But, we have made a resolution that we will focus even more on governance and expansion.