AAP first LS list in 2 weeks

New Delhi: The one-year-old Aam Aadmi Party is spreading its wings to go national. The party will announce its first list of candidates for this year’s Lok Sabha elections within two weeks, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said during a meeting of its national executive on Saturday.

The party chalked out its plans and strategies to build a national perspective for the general elections at Delhi’s Constitution Club. Apart from the 23 core members of its national executive, AAP’s representatives from all over the country were at the meeting.

The frequency of these meetings has increased since the party picked up pace. “We will fight the elections from most seats in most states,” AAP leader Prashant Bhushan said, adding that the names of most candidates would be announced by February 15.

According to sources, along with Delhi, the AAP is looking at Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat to build a strong support system for the general election, due by May. The party reportedly plans to field Mayank Gandhi from Maharashtra and Sanjay Singh from Uttar Pradesh while senior party leader Yogendra Yadav is likely to be its CM candidate in the Assembly election in Haryana later this year.

The party’s ideological backbone, Yogendra Yadav, had told this newspaper that the party was extensively recruiting candidates keeping in mind its national ambitions. The leader has started conducting “jan sabhas” in the party’s innovative fashion in parts of Haryana.

Yadav also told the paper that the party might face difficulties in campaigning for rural areas since it lacks a face with appeal in such areas, unlike Delhi which had Mr Kejriwal to run the show. “The enthusiasm to join the party is not limited to Delhi.

We get many applications daily. We have to now work on increasing our volunteer base since LS elections would need manpower,” said a highly placed party source.

Will field only credible, honest candidate: AAP

AAP’s Shazia Ilmi said her party would field only credible and honest  candidates in the election, even at the cost of not contesting from certain seats.

“We have a four-tier selection process for candidates. We have hired private bodies to do background checks of all candidates. We will not contest from seats where we do not find honest candidates,” said Ms Ilmi, who is also likely to be one of AAP’s big candidates in the elections.

Mr Kejriwal, who took the oath as Delhi’s new CM a week ago, has urged “honest” people from all spheres, and political parties, including the Congress and BJP, to join his party in its “fight against corruption”.

AAP leader Kumar Vishwas has already declared that he will contest the Lok Sabha election against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi from his constituency in Amethi, UP. Mr Vishwas earlier this week said he doesn’t just want to take on Mr Gandhi in Amethi but would also like BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to join the line-up.