Senior party members such as Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and others have been named as star campaigners for the local body polls in Maharashtra next month. (File Photo)
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is set to contest the upcoming Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections on almost all the 165 seats across the 41 wards alone. Two initial lists of 41 candidates have been published by the party, and more names will be announced in the near future.
District Conveyor Mukund Kirdat told The Indian Express that the party would be going solo in the polls without any alliance. Senior party members such as Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and others have been named as star campaigners for the local body polls in Maharashtra next month.
Kirdat said, “We want to go alone in these polls. In Maharashtra, we have seen that ideology is not an issue at all, everyone is aligning with everyone else. Alliances are being made to clinch power. The common man also hates this type of politics of convenience. We are the alternative.”
He added that the party would work on a ‘development agenda’, similar to the campaigns in Punjab and Delhi. “Issues such as education, transport, healthcare, women’s safety will be our agenda. Our candidates will also give an affidavit on stamp paper to the voters that they will not leave the party and will work on the issues,” remarked Kirdat.
Environmental issues especially related to the Mula-Mutha riverfront development project is also something the party will focus on, said Kirdat. AAP member and lawyer Krrunal Gharre has filed complaints with the National Green Tribunal on environmental issues such as pollution in the Pavana river and tree felling in the past year. Gharre is contesting the election from Ward 10 (D).
In the past, be it in the Lok Sabha elections or the Vidhan Sabha elections held in 2024, AAP has not been able to make a mark in Maharashtra. In the recently concluded municipal council elections, the party won just one just seat in the state in Ahilyanagar district.