AAP holds broom yatra across Gujarat to take on 'anti-people and pro-corporate' Narendra Modi

Making their foray into Gujarat, the Aam Aadmi Party launched what it called a 'jhadu' or broom yatra across the state on India's 65th Republic Day.

In Ahmedabad today, the yatra was led by TV journalist-turned-politician Ashutosh who said the intention behind the campaign was to highlight the "anti-people and pro-corporate stand" of the Narendra Modi government.

The yatra to be taken out in all the 33 district headquarters in the state will culminate at Gandhinagar on January 30 with a rally near Mahatma Mandir, a monument in memory of Mahatma Gandhi.

The AAP is now finalising plans to put up its candidates in all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, Mr Modi's home turf. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party held a two-day state level core committee meeting recently in which strategies for contesting the polls were worked out.

The AAP announcement has given a new twist to the battle for Lok Sabha, so far seen as a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress.

Though recent opinion polls give the BJP a clear edge in the general elections, due by May, experts say the rise of AAP, buoyed by its success in Delhi and currently engaged in an ambitious membership drive recruiting several high-profile members, might upset the forecasts.

Mr Modi has recently been seen attacking the rookie Aam Aadmi Party in his speeches, which is a departure from his precision ambush on the Congress and its top leaders with a particular surname.

In a rally earlier this month, Mr Modi slammed AAP for its "lack of experience" and said the country needed "people who have experience to take it forward."