Enthused by the success of the party in New Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is all set to take on traditional political parties in the coming Lok Sabha polls and has decided to field candidates in 10 to 12 of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies here.
Addressing presspersons on Saturday, the AAP’s national executive committee member, Prithvi Reddy, said though the present plan is to contest in a few constituencies, the central committee has advised not to restrict the number before assessing the strength in other constituencies.
He said, “Our present plan is to contest in five constituencies in Bangalore and surrounding areas, two in north Karnataka region, besides Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli, Dharwad and Belgaum. The party may field candidates in more constituencies, after considering the response from local units.” Chief Minister of Delhi and AAP president Arvind Kejriwal and other top leaders, including Yogendra Yadav will campaign for party candidates across the country, Mr. Prithvi Reddy said.
TransparencyIn another step towards promoting transparency, the AAP has launched its Lok Sabha 2014 elections nominations process at www.aamaadmiparty.org. “The AAP prides itself for this novel initiative, which displays true democracy, and the Lok Sabha elections process is clear evidence of the AAP not being a ‘high command centric party’,” Mr. Reddy said.
The AAP believes in an empowered common man and his right to participate in the democratic process. The last date for the first round of the nomination process in many parts of the country would end on January 15, but the process in Karnataka would continue till January 31.
After the receipt of nominations and primary scrutiny, all applicants’ names would be uploaded on the website for comment and feedback. The State screening committee will do the initial screening and verification regarding correctness of data and forms received. The State screening committee will also act as a search committee, in case there is no credible applicant in a Lok Sabha constituency.
Clear picture in MarchA consultative and collaborative engagement with local district teams would also be followed. The State screening committee would shortlist names of a maximum three candidates per constituency and the same would be sent to the political affairs committee for final selection. While the first list would be announced on February 10, the final list will be out on March 1 to facilitate the candidate to campaign at least for one month.