Coming out with a multi-pronged strategy to realise its ‘Mission 2017’ a success, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is all set to knock at the doors of the people for opening the gates to power in Punjab.
Going directly to the people with its policies and agendas, it is launching a door-to-door campaign — Dastak; besides holding intellectual sessions — named as ‘Intellectual Dialogue’.
Turning techno-savvy, the party is also downloading the programme of e-generation of election funds by launching a mobile application — AAP ka Daan — soon.
If that is not all, the party is all set to unveil its manifesto for the State’s youth next month. For the same, party’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would be in the holy city, Amritsar, on July 3. “He would release the party’s manifesto for the youth on July 3 after paying obeisance at Golden Temple,” a senior AAP leader told The Pioneer.
“Every member of AAP, its every wing or cell is working to ensure party’s victory in Punjab, and freeing the State from the nine-year-long misrule of the SAD-BJP Government,” said AAP leader.
AAP leader said that the Dastak programme would be launched by party’s women wing, while party’s intellectual wing is organising the Intellectual Dialogue. The party is already going ahead with its Punjab Dialogue programme — a part of party’s series of interaction programmes, under the banner ‘Bolda Punjab’, to have direct feedback from various segments of the society before forming its final draft of the election manifesto for the 2017 State Assembly polls.
“For AAP, Punjab is on top of its priority list. It has complete focus on the State and is making every possible effort to make its Mission 2017 a huge success…In another step towards the same, the party is also in the process of finalising certain names and announcing the first list of its candidates for Punjab Assembly polls, due next year, by July end to check dissidence, if any, beforehand,” said the AAP leader.
The party had created ripples in Punjab politics by winning four parliamentary seats out of total 13 during 2014 polls while drawing blank in the entire country. It had damaged badly the equations of both the ruling SAD-BJP and the Congress party.
Though the party could not succeed in the bypolls that followed, it is still considered frontrunner in the forthcoming elections, that are just about six-seven months away.
DASTAK PROGRAMME
A signature campaign, launched by AAP’s women wing, would focus on various issues including drugs, afflicting the State. Different teams of the women party workers would go door-to-door to give dastak (knock) asking the female folk to sign a pledge to fight against the menace of unemployment, drug-abuse and price rise.
“The party would knock the door of every house in the State and all the womenfolk would be asked to sign the pledge to lodge a protest against unemployment, drugs and price rise,” said AAP’s Punjab unit Women Wing head Prof Baljinder Kaur.
The Women wing on Friday also released a poster appealing the womenfolk to raise their voices against drug-abuse, unemployment and price rise, “as these are the issues which adversely affect them the most”.
“The poster is based on the documentary “Chitta Sach”, which highlighted these issues in prominent manner, and this poster would be distributed among all women of all 117 Assembly segments of the State,” she said.
The campaign, for which more than seven lakh workers would work hand-in-hand, would be initiated from June 18 and continue till next month, she said.
Several women squad, comprising at least 20 women volunteers would visit every house of all 117 Assembly segments and after getting signatures, these would be handed over to the Governor to express the anguish of womenfolk of Punjab against the State Government.
Women Squad would carry a form in which signatures of the people would be taken that they are with the AAP in a fight against drug abuse, corruption, unemployment and price rise, she added.
Data including the name, address and phone number of the women who would sign the declaration would also be taken during the campaign.
AAP KA DAAN
Though in initial stages, the AAP is planning to launch a mobile application — AAP ka daan — to raise elections funds for 2017 Punjab polls.
The app is in operation in Delhi, where AAP has its Government, and would soon launch it in Punjab too.
“AAP is known for its transparency, and process of election funds collection is also transparent along with its utilisation. Among other things, mobile app would be launched by the party which will be used for raising elections funds by the volunteers,” said AAP leader.
Besides, the party will launch fund raising drive through online donations and party workers moving house-to-house across all 117 Assembly constituencies in Punjab.
‘INTEllECTUAl DIAlOGUE’
Aiming at reaching around 1.25 crores voters in Punjab before 2017 elections to create awareness among the people about party’s policies, AAP’s intellectual wing has started ‘Intellectual Dialogue’.
Under this programme, every Assembly segment has been divided into 10 zones to be headed by the office-bearers of the Intellectual Wing. “Every spokesperson of the Intellectual Wing will hold at least 150 meetings, and the main purpose would be to know the problems of the people at the grass root level,” said the AAP leader.
AAP leader said that the party workers would inform the people about AAP’s policies, while at the same time, making the people aware and cautious about the misinformation being circulated by the Akalis and Congress.