AAP invite to contest Lok Sabha poll

PATNA: The Aam Aadmi Party has invited interested people to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Bihar. After announcing that the party will contest from all 40 LS constituencies, AAP has also intensified its membership drive here and other parts of the state.

According to party office-bearers, those interested in contesting the poll can download a form from the party website. The form, apart from knowing the details of the person, seeks an affidavit that after winning election, he/she won't seek official bungalow or a red-beacon car. It also asks one to commit himself to the Janlokpal movement and abide by the power devolution scheme of the party.

The form also asks the person to get his candidature certified by '100 voters from each assembly segment of the respective Lok Sabha seat'. The candidate is also asked a few questions, viz.: Why do you want to contest the election? Why do you think you will win the election? Have you read "Swaraj", written by Arvind Kejriwal (that talks about decentralization of power and mohalla sabhas).

The hard copy of the form can then be sent to the party office in Delhi or its soft copy can be mailed to an e-mail id given on the party website. Then, a survey will be conducted among party volunteers for all the candidates from a particular constituency. If the survey result is positive, then a public survey will be conducted. After that, a consultation will be done with the regional committee. Given a positive feedback, the party's screening committee will interview the candidates at Kaushambi, Ghaziabad, and come out with a final name.

According to party functionaries, membership drive of the party is also in full swing across the state. At least six canopies are put up at different points in the state capital every day. The camps at Bir Chand Patel path, Patliputra Colony, Kargil Chowk, Kumhrar and Danapur have evoked very good response. On an average, 300-500 people take up membership everyday at each of these camps, claim the party office-bearers. Anyone can come to the camp between 11am and 6pm and take membership after paying a fee of Rs 10, said Magadh zone convener Arif Raza.

In districts also, the party is getting good response, especially post-Delhi results. An office-bearer said 300-600 new members were made in Bhagalpur, Jehanabad, Buxar, Darbhanga and Chhapra districts. This is over and above the online membership, the data of which is not yet available with the state party office, he added.

However, dissidence continues to persist. About 150 members of the party collected at Gandhi Maidan recently to show their displeasure over the manner in which the zonal committees were formed. "Like other political parties, such an important decision was taken behind closed doors and those who were involved with the party were not even informed, forget about taking their opinion. We have informed our senior leaders in Delhi and expecting their arrival here in January. If they won't come, we will go there," said one of the members who had come from Lakhisarai district. Another party member from Siwan said some office-bearers don't have a clean record. When contacted, party's IT head Ankit Lal, who had come from Delhi here said, "We don't have any proof. If any proof comes up, we will take action."

Fake membership?

Some people are said to be allegedly busy in fake membership drive, said one of founding members of the party in the state. The genuine membership receipt carries a pre-printed serial number. If the serial number is manually filled in, even if partially, then the person concerned should take note of it and inform the party, he said.

source of information

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/AAP-invite-to-contest-Lok-Sabha-poll/articleshow/28027439.cms