Telugu Desam man join hands with AAP

Hyderabad: While his son Amir Ali Khan took the YSR Congress route, former Telugu Desam MP,  Zahed Ali Khan, will be joining the Aam Aadmi Party.

Sources from the Aam Aadmi Party confirmed the news and said that the he will be making a formal announcement at a public meeting soon.

“He has always shown his support and inclination towards the party and its ideologies. And his experience is going to be a great asset to us,” said an AAP member.

When contacted, Zahed Khan said that he was still contemplating the move. “I am part of an organisation that has always been independent. We have been learning about all political parties as well. If Aam Aadmi comes to Hyderabad then I am definitely going to think about joining it. Right now I am traveling abroad for two weeks and I will decide once I come back,” he said.

When asked about his son’s move to be a part of the YSRC, he said, “His only aim has been to uplift Muslims across the state and Jagan and my son have been great friends. So he went ahead and supported him.”

Not only Khan, many other prominent and influential people from the Old City have been showing tremendous support for the AAP. In just two days, over 500-plus people registered at the Aam Aadmi Party office at Moghalpura, Old City.

Various HC advocates and scholars have already registered for the primary membership. “We registered a record number of 500-plus members in less than two days. The public helpdesks installed in every office and here have been receiving various grievances,” said Mohammed Abdul Qavi Abbasi, coordinator, Moghalpura unit. The public helpdesk has already received over 37 complaints of illegal encroachments, police harassment, water connections and other issues.

Aam Aadmi Party members also met the RTA Commissioner and submitted a memorandum, seeking them to crack the whip on unfit private buses. “We have witnessed many irregularities in the functioning of these buses.

We do not want to see another Palem bus incident in Hyderabad and if we do not push the government for our safety, there will never be any change,” said C. Vinod Kumar, State Coordination Committee member, AAP, Hyderabad.

Next: 1k register with AAP in Vizag

1k register with AAP in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: While conventional parties like the Congress, TD and YSRC are yet to decide their local strategies, the newest entrant in the political landscape, the Aam Aadmi Party has already started its groundwork to contest both Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in Vizag, four months ahead of the general elections.

Around 1,000 volunteers from the city have already registered with the Vizag wing of AAP, showing an interest to work for the party. The city chapter was launched just two days back without any formal announcement or publicity.

AAP workers here are listing a charter of demands and the problems being faced by the public  to take to the masses.
With more urban middle class voters in  Vizag, experts are of the opinion that AAP might give stiff competition to the conventional parties.

Like the TD, Congress and YSRC.

Mass emails, bulk SMS, mapping of various zones using Google Maps, extensive use of social media like Facebook and Twitter is the strategy of AAP Vizag. “Our support teams are already on the field to get members and to know the issues and problems plaguing public. The database will be ready in a week. Our target is to enroll at least 1 lakh members by March. But with the response we are getting, we will reach the target in just one month,” said AAP local coordinator, Sistla Venugopal Rao.

Every member gets two AAP trademark caps. Local members are spending their own money for stitching the caps and other sundry.

After attending the AAP meeting in Hyderabad on December 28, a group of enthusiastic Vizagites had an informal meeting two days ago and had decided to launch the membership drive. AAP has divided Vizag district into 100 zones including Bheemili and Anakapalle. The group has decided to reach out to the colonies across the city and its associations to know the local problems as the election manifestos and agendas will be very specific to the localities.

There are more than 20 lakh voters in the Vizag Lok Sabha constituency and five of the seven Assembly constituencies coming under it has urban and middle class voters. Among them youngsters comprise 35 per cent.

“We are doing everything in a scientific manner by pooling all data and statistics. We will very soon finalise strategies for the polls and launch campaigns. Our volunteers are willing to work in shifts. We are very happy to see such a huge response,” said Dr M.T. Venkateswarlu, member of the AAP’s Vizag committee, who returned to India in 2007 after practicing in England for eight years. He had contested for the Vizag Lok Sabha seat on a Loksatta ticket in the 2009 polls.