AAP Draws Inspiration From 2011 Movement, Launches ‘ASAP’ To Reconnect With Youth

Last Updated:May 20, 2025, 15:26 IST

Addressing the group of party workers, students and the media, Arvind Kejriwal said there is a need for alternative politics as mainstream politics is failing

News18

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday launched the Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP) to reconnect with the youth and reinvigorate its grassroots presence. This comes after the party’s student wing, the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), failed to make a significant impact in its 10 years of existence.

This was one of the few times after the disastrous Delhi Assembly elections in February that the top leaders of the AAP, including party head Arvind Kejriwal, held a gathering in the national capital. Addressing the group of party workers, students and the media, Kejriwal said that there is a need for alternative politics as mainstream politics is failing.

“The politics that you have been seeing for 75 years in the country is mainstream politics and this is the cause of all the issues in the country," he said, calling his politics an “alternative" as it focused on health, education and everyday issues of the common man.

He urged the youth to take part in politics as they cannot “stay away from it". “Politics touches every part of our lives. I hear young people say they have nothing to do with politics, but that’s not true. Even power supply depends on politics—whether you get it, and how much you pay for it. You have to take an interest in politics, no matter what," he said in Hindi.

Kejriwal said with ASAP, people will be forced to compare the two models of politics – alternative and mainstream.

“We hope there will be a time when the parties doing mainstream politics will be removed and the alternative politics will be the mainstream. With ASAP, a new generation will be ready that will work for the country and will have a changed definition of politics," Kejriwal said.

The party formed the new official student wing based on the belief that the “movement for change begins on campus". It is worth recalling that India Against Corruption—the 2011 movement from where AAP came into existence—turned into a mass movement only after scores of students from various institutes joined it. Their participation strengthened it immensely.

Students from almost every college and university actively participated in protests, rallies, and hunger strikes, demonstrating their commitment to combating corruption. Their enthusiasm, organisational skills, and effective use of digital platforms were instrumental in mobilising public opinion and pressuring the government to consider anti-corruption legislation.

Explaining the aim for the formation of ASAP, former Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia said ASAP is not just another student wing and the party did not float the wing because every party has its student wing. “But this will focus on alternative politics," Sisodia said.

He said eight crore students are pursuing higher education in India. There are about 50,000 colleges and universities across the country but only five per cent of these see elections.

“I want that from each and every university where there are elections, the ASAP president and secretary get elected. We will do that. But ASAP is not just for colleges and universities that have elections. We will talk about alternative politics even in institutions that don’t have elections… ASAP will develop nationalism in students across India," Sisodia said.

ASAP aims to mobilise five lakh student volunteers from 50,000 colleges nationwide, focusing on issues like education, healthcare, and community service.

It is worth mentioning that the CYSS, formed in 2014, could not recreate what AAP did in Delhi politics when they contested elections.

It is also worth noting that Kejriwal has been largely absent from the limelight in Delhi since the results were announced on February 8. He was focusing his efforts mostly in Punjab. Although he took part in an event ‘Ek Shaam Shaheedon Ke Naam’ in March where he made political statements.

For the last couple of weeks, post the results, Kejriwal shifted his attention to Punjab to strategise for the 2027 assembly elections.

The launch of ASAP comes at a critical time for AAP, which recently lost control of the Delhi assembly and the MCD.

News politics AAP Draws Inspiration From 2011 Movement, Launches ‘ASAP’ To Reconnect With Youth