The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is expected to finalise its first list of candidates for the upcoming municipal polls by the end of this month. As many as 10,000 aspirants are believed to be eyeing the 272 seats.
The party plans to take on the BJP and Congress by focusing on alleged financial irregularities in the municipal corporations and the issue of sanitation.
“Sanitation will be our major focus in the municipal polls as it is their [civic bodies] primary duty to ensure cleanliness. Delhi saw an outbreak of vector-borne diseases because the civic bodies failed to do their duty,” said AAP Delhi unit convenor Dilip Pandey.
With the State government under its control, the AAP now intends to wrest power from the BJP, which has been managing the civic bodies. Over the past few months, the AAP has been raising issues related to alleged corruption in the municipal corporations.
More than 10,097 aspirants have declared their desire to contest on the party ticket. Of these, 3,522 are from north corporation, 3,673 from the south corporation and 2,902 from the east corporation.
The party has already formed a screening committee, whose functioning will be reviewed by senior AAP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Mr. Pandey and Delhi Ministers Kapil Mishra and Satyendar Jain are also a part of the committee. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is undergoing treatment in Bengaluru, will take a final call on the candidates.
“We should come up with the first list of candidates by the month-end. The review process is on and names will be given to the political affairs committee, which will take a final call,” Mr. Pandey added.
