The Aam Aadmi Party claimed on Friday that never before had politicians gone to the people seeking their opinion on whether they should form a government.
The AAP’s first Jan Sabha (public meeting) was held on Friday at Hauz Rani village in the Malviya Nagar Assembly constituency and was addressed by party MLA Somnath Bharti.
“This is history in the making as the people are being consulted in government formation in this manner. It is the people who have to decide whether we should form the government or go for fresh elections,” Mr. Bharti told the gathering of about 300 people.
He read out party convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s letter to Delhiites seeking their opinion on government formation with outside support from the Congress, which he regarded as “ shatir (shrewd)”.
Mr. Bharti asked the crowd, which was conspicuous by the absence of women, to register their opinions by raising their hands. They unanimously voted in the affirmative. In an indication that the party was seriously contemplating forming the government in Delhi, he put forth a list of 35 issues he was going to pursue after his party came to power.
Asked if 300 people out of a voter count of around 50,000 in the municipal ward can hold brief for the entire ward, Mr. Bharti said: “We have already distributed leaflets in the entire constituency. People are sending their feedbacks through various channels, including phone calls, SMSes, emails and responses on the party’s website. So it would be inappropriate to suggest that we are not going by popular mood”.
“Indeed quite a large number of people want the AAP to form the government. And this opinion is getting stronger and stronger. People want at least some semblance of good governance,” added Mr. Bharti, a founding member of the party. Asked about his own stand on the issue, he said: “I have suppressed my stand in view of the people’s opinion. I will go by whatever the party decides”.
