The most cracking debut by any political party in Indian politics has set springs in the feet of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) whose resonance is not very far from Jharkhand. To replicate its success in Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is looking forward to field its candidates for upcoming polls slated to take place in the State in 2014.
Jharkhand to will undergo polls for both — lok Sabha and Assembly — constituencies next year.
“We are very enthusiastic to contest in Jharkhand polls. As per present situations the AAP would field its candidates in at least eight parliamentary constituencies that would go up only. Similar is the plan for Assembly polls,” said
Sunil Mahto, convener of the party in the State. Jharkhand has 14 lok Sabha and 81 Assembly seats.
The party has even gone ahead forming districts level units at 17 out of 24 districts of the State while in the rest it has presence without a proper setup. Its members list has crossed 10,000 by August and over 1,500 in Ranchi. It may not look impressive on paper
considering its rivals but again the debutant is banking heavily on the charisma of Arvind Kejriwal.
“The party is working on two pronged strategies to select its candidates for the poll battles. Besides Delhi model which scrutinises names based on their works, character and credentials and issue tickets, we are also in the process to indentify some renowned personalities working for the welfare of society. The party has an agenda very clear before the voters and derives inspirations from Arvind Kejriwal. This makes faces insignificant,” added Mahto.
Senior leaders of the party in Delhi also think that contesting elections in politically and socially unstable Jharkhand is just a formal decision to take. It becomes even more obvious after Delhi poll results that have flooded AAP with 28 seats. “Our next move is to prepare for 2014 polls everywhere. Though the party’s central committee is to take a formal decision on this but this has to happen. For Jharkhand we are looking to contest both parliamentary as well as Assembly polls,” said Ajit Jha, in-charge of APP for Jharkhand.
Hoping for a surge of similar kind the party in the State is also eying to induct more members into its fold. “Aggressive membership drive is going to be our priority in Jharkhand. We have number of people willing to join the party. After that we will furnish committees and units at every level. National leaders and friends from different walks of life would make trips ahead of the polls,” said Jha.
However the party may face a stiff challenge in hand of rural setup in the State which is completely different from cosmopolitan Delhi. The factor is in the minds of AAP strategists as well. “It is there and we also don’t have as much media glare as in Delhi. But issues are the same. In fact people of Jharkhand are the worst sufferers of the corrupt politics. Our ideology to clean up the system and not focus on faces should work in our favour,” said Jha.
Keeping transparency at paramount the State unit of AAP has maintained a register listing amount and names of the donors. The figure has crossed Rs one lakh by August.
Advocating purity in politics the party has gathered accolades from other parties as well. “The way voters are taking decision in recent times those are in power should become sensitive to that. They have to present their account before to the people. AAP has presented third option for the electorates. We will also look into their specialties and see what can be adopted,” said JVM legislator Pradeep Yadav when asked about internal transparency and democratic values the AAP has preached and practiced.