Fresh from the success of victory in Punjab Assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has set its sight on the next set of States going to polls, including Karnataka. The party has decided to contest all the 224 seats in the upcoming Assembly polls.
As former IPS officer and former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao joined the party in Delhi in the presence of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday, the party said that they were expecting more such inductions in the future.
Mr. Rao said he had been observing the development of schools, hospitals in Delhi under the AAP regime and how it was made possible by a “change in political culture.”
Three parties
“I wish the same for my home State Karnataka, so I have joined AAP,” he said. Speaking to The Hindu later, he said the three political parties in the State (Congress, BJP and JD(S) had gone far away from the aspirations of the common man. “I have seen the three parties and their governance for the last 32 years in service in the State. There is no point in altering the cloth, it is better to stitch a new one,” he said. Calling him a “common man’s commissioner”, Mr. Sisodia said Mr. Rao joining the party had been a shot in their arm.
This is only the first in a series of high profile inductions over the next two months, sources in AAP, Karnataka, claimed. “Many senior politicians from established political parties, social movements and people who have never been in politics before will be joining the party,” said Pruthvi Reddy, State convenor, AAP, Karnataka.
Both Mr. Rao and Mr. Reddy said there has been disillusionment with the three political parties in the State and the “opportunistic coalitions” and unstable Governments they have formed and the State was ripe for change, and AAP was the best fit.
Focus on North Karnataka
An AAP leader in Delhi said that as part of the party’s national expansion, the party will be initially concentrating more on Northern Karnataka as they have better presence in the region.
“We are yet to create a proper plan for the State, but we will act along the lines of Gujarat. We will do tiranga yatras in Karnataka too. Also, it feels that we have not capitalised enough on the Punjab win in Karnataka,” the leader said.
A group of leaders from Delhi, including Dilip Pandey, who was appointed as election in-charge of the State, will be travelling to Karnataka this week. Over the next few weeks, the leaders will be meeting people from different areas before finalising a plan for the State.
Candidate list in 60 days
Over the next 60 days, AAP aims to finalise a list of tentative candidates for all the 224 Assembly constituencies, said Pruthvi Reddy, State convenor, AAP, Karnataka.
“We will provide these prospective candidates three months’ time to carry out door-to-door campaigns, make themselves familiar and try to set the agenda in the constituency. After three months, the party will independently conduct surveys in all constituencies about the prospective candidates, and depending on its results, finalise the candidates. This is the process we followed in Punjab and the same will be implemented in Karnataka,” Mr. Reddy said. “With this, we will be one of the first in the fray with a list of candidates earlier than any political party,” he said.
