Boil in the favour of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nationally has left its imprints in Jharkhand as well. As against the target given to the party State unit by central leadership of two lakh new entrants during the special membership drive running between January 10 and January 26, the AAP has registered 2.43 lakh fresh names and that also through form registrations, also named as offline registrations.
The fortnight long drive covered major parts of the State but majority of the newcomers remained from Ranchi (42,000), Bokaro (57,000), Palamau (12,000). "This apart we have got good response from urban centers of Pakur, Deoghar, Jamshedpur and Hazaribagh," said Ajay Chaudhary of AAP's State unit. During the drive, which the party claims is expected to see over one crore new members joining in nationally, two dedicated campaign vehicles were deployed for Ranchi district which covered Kanke, Pithoria, Angada, Ratu, Nagri, Bundu, Silli, Rahe and Sonahatu.
Similarly couples of more such vehicles were also pressed into action in Deoghar and Pakur to corner as much members as possible. "We have covered 12 out of 18 blocks and 40 out of 55 wards of Ranchi. The response has been overwhelming which is expected to continue as we are organising a 'swaraj yatra' currently that would continue till January 31. Our growing popularity can be understood with the fact that the drive had to face numerous resistances involving workers of different mainstream parties," said Chaudhary.
Though, the outcome for Ranchi fell short from the target of over one lakh members which was given for bigger cities like it. "As per offline registration we could cross 42,000 but considering demography of Ranchi it is not a bad performance in 15 days time. Also it is when the figure about online registration is still unknown," said Sunil Kumar Mahto, a senior party functionary. Moreover the Jharkhand unit of AAP and membership strength here has not got a place on the party website as yet which quotes highest entry coming from Uttar Pradesh, i.e. 735700 till January 21. The State unit is expected to figure in February after fresh and bagful list of members would be sent that has crossed 4.5 lakh overall in Jharkhand thus far. More than 20 volunteers are on work to compile names.
Formed just over a year ago on 26 November 2012, popularity of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party seen a northward trend after it formed a Government in Delhi by toppling a decade old Congress regime. With lok Sabha polls on striking distance, the party is mulling to field candidates in Jharkhand as well and encouraging responses like this may come as shoot in the arms.