Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai will embark on a four-day visit to Chhattisgarh on Saturday to review the implementation of the AAP's expansion plan in the Congress-ruled state and induct "some prominent people" into the party.
The senior AAP leader will participate in a roadshow in Bilaspur, a commercial centre and business hub, on April 18.
AAP's poll strategist and newly elected Rajya Sabha member Sandeep Pathak, as well as the party's Chhattisgarh in-charge and Burari MLA from Delhi Sanjeev Jha will join Rai in the roadshow.
Pathak, a former IIT-Delhi faculty member, hails from Chhattisgarh.
"Several prominent people from different walks of life will join the party on April 17," Rai told PTI.
Advertisement
This will be Rai's second visit to Chhattisgarh within a month after his party decided to prepare for the assembly polls in the state next year, after its stupendous victory in the Punjab assembly elections.
To set in motion the AAP's poll preparations, Rai had travelled to the tribal-dominated state last month. During the visit, he inaugurated a party office in Raipur and launched a membership drive in the state.
"Last month, we went there and took out a Vijay Yatra (victory march). After that, many people want to join our party," Rai said.
During his stay in Chhattisgarh, he will hold a series of meetings with party leaders and workers to review the implementation of the membership drive and discuss the AAP's expansion plans.
Advertisement
"There are meetings with various organisations also," Rai said.
He said he would attend a day-long training programme organised for the party's leaders and workers on April 19.
The AAP had contested the Chhattisgarh assembly polls in 2018, fielding its candidates on 85 out of a total 90 seats, but could not open its account.
Buoyed by its victory in Punjab, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is hoping to expand its base in Chhattisgarh and project itself as an alternative to the BJP and the Congress in the elections next year.
Rai said his party has teams "actively" working on the ground in each of the 90 assembly constituencies of the state.
