Humble, firm baby steps of AAP

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: AAP caps are least visible, belying hopes of youth, who thought Arvind Kejriwal would have an ace up his sleeve to stun Kerala voters or even associate his party in some ways with electioneering.
Perhaps all is not lost. AAP members can vote according to conscience this time but the party state leadership has called for a list of the corrupt and the communal candidates to be targeted for defeat. The list includes candidates, who adhere to the credo of violence as a tool. The State committee will meet on April 15 to finalize the list.

The decision against being directly in the fray for Assembly elections has been an admission of the AAP’s shrunken volunteer and unimpressive network required to fight an election. But the new State committee, led by activist C R Neelakantan, is in the process of reactivating the campaign to touch 1.5 lakh members by yearend. The hope is on achieving the critical mass in time for the next Lok Sabha elections. The Kerala voter’s tepid response to AAP, which garnered 2 percent vote share in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, is sought to be explained in the divergent profiles of volunteers in Delhi and Kerala. In Delhi the majority of volunteers were newcomers to politics, drawn by the commitment of the new dispensation to root out corruption.  Whereas in Kerala, most of the volunteers had already been part of other parties and themselves party to the corrupt political system. They wanted to jump on the AAP bandwagon and make a fast buck.

The party has no shock and awe strategy against the entrenched coalitional set-up in Kerala. AAP is banking on fast growth in the north, especially in Punjab and Goa where Assembly polls are due in 2017. These two States in the bag should be a morale booster for AAP’s foray into the south. That’s how its leaders figure it out for now. In preparation, AAP is in the process of setting up task teams, each being assigned a specific subject such as swaraj, political campaign, conventional media, social media, finance and anticorruption. Party members can opt to work in their preferred committee.

 The fight against corruption, in keeping with the Kejriwal sutra to change the way politics is being practised, is crucial. Dedicated phones will be available in districts and at the State-level for corruption alerts. But AAP will not focus on negatives alone. It will help the public to tap into online services already commissioned by the State Government. “We are sure this Government has not been able to market its own achievements”, said former State convener Manoj Padmanabhan.   

AAP will use National Automated Clearing House facility to get regular contributions from members and will have a budget to take care of its year-long activities. Says C R Neelakantan, State convener of AAP: “At the grassroots, we will have shadow members to keep tabs on civic issues”.   Former IPS officer Ajith Joy, who unsuccessfully contested in Thiruvananthapuram LS polls in 2014, is now a busy lawyer. It’s his profession but he also does it free for those who have genuine reasons. These are humble but firm baby steps towards setting up a party.