Six Aam Aadmi Party candidates filed their nominations on Monday for the Delhi Lok Sabha election after they took out roadshows, which were attended by hundreds of party workers and senior leaders.
AAP West Delhi candidate Balbir Singh Jakhar had filed his nomination last week, making the total number of nominations to seven.
Amidst drum beats and showering of rose petals, the candidates waved atop vehicles as the roadshows passed through their respective Lok Sabha constituencies.
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The candidates who filed their nomination on Monday are Pankaj Gupta from Chandni Chowk, Raghav Chadha from South Delhi, Atishi from East Delhi, Brijesh Goyal from New Delhi, Dilip Pandey from North East Delhi, Gugan Singh from North West Delhi.
A rally taken out by party leader Atishi in East Delhi was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, senior leaders and hundreds of party workers on foot, cars, autorickshaw and motorcycles. “Thousands of people came out in support of AAP and it shows the love people have for us. We did not spend a single rupee on the rally, people came own their own. Other parties do it by spending lakhs,” Ms. Atishi told The Hindu .
In another rally in North Delhi, Mr. Pandey said, “The roadshow shows the massive support we have. People have realised that voting for Congress is just going to help BJP win the election just like in Jind [Haryana].”
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‘Modi will be the PM’
The Hindu visited the rallies of Mr. Gupta and Ms. Atishi where at least a dozen AAP workers said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will win three to seven seats in Delhi but ‘Modi’ will come back to power. The workers were also split on the AAP-Congress alliance.
Around 12.30 p.m. near Keshav Puram Metro Station, 31-year-old Surender Goswami, an employee of Hero Honda in Gurugram, was parking his motorcycle to rejoin Mr. Gupta’s roadshow after a break.
“AAP has done a lot of work in Delhi and we will win at least four to five seats, par desh mei Modi aayega [but Modi will be voted to power in the country],” he said.
Around 1.30 p.m. at Laxmi Nagar metro station, 48-year-old Rosy Kharbanda and three of her friends were waiting for Ms. Atishi’s roadshow to reach the area.
‘AAP to bag four seats’
“Ms. Atishi will win for sure and AAP will win at least four seats,” she said. But when asked about who will become the Prime Minister, Ms. Kharbanda, said: “If you are asking me who it will be between Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Mr. Modi, it will definitely be Mr. Modi.” The other three people in the group also agreed to the same.
The workers were split on alliance with Congress, with some stating that it will help the party to defeat BJP; but a majority were against the idea.
“We have attacked Congress a lot, now it is not right to join hands with them. It should not happen,” said 22-year-old party worker Raj Sonkar, who was sporting a Nehru cap, which reads: “I am aam aadmi” on one side and “full statehood” on the other side.