Aam Aadmi Party Decides To Fight Lok Sabha Polls

NEW DELHI – After carefullyweighing the pros and cons,Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) onTuesday decided to take theplunge and contest the 2014Lok Sabha elections. It’s unlikelythat it will contest from all543 seats, but indications are thenumber of candidates will besubstantial.At a brainstorming session here,the party core group decided toappoint a committee, headed bysenior leaders Yogendra Yadavand Sanjay Singh, to draw up aroadmap for the polls. Whilethere were fears that AAP’sresources would be badlystretched in fighting these elections,especially if a re-poll forDelhi assembly is held simultaneously,the dominant view wasthat the party was on a roll andit should not lose this opportunityto stamp an all-India presence.As a first step, AAP leaderArvind Kejriwal said he wouldbe happy if its campaign inHaryana was led by AshokKhemka — the crusader IASofficer who exposed an allegedland scam involving RobertVadra and has since faced the ireof the Haryana Congress government.When contacted, 48-year-old Khemka refused tocomment. AAP is also reachingout to Nagpal, the officer whotook on the sand mining mafiaand was suspended by the UPgovernment.Organization is not AAP’s areaof strength as it is a 14-montholdparty which has beenfocused on Delhi. To fan outacross the entire country in therun-up to the Lok Sabha pollswill indeed be a hard task. AAPleaders, however, recognize thatthere are times when an idea isbigger than organization. Andits recent stellar performance inDelhi as well as the enthusiasmthis has generated across thecountry will convince the votersthat it is on to a big politicalidea.