AAP workers celebrate after the assembly election results are announced in Delhi (File pic from December 8)
Aam Aadmi Party's national executive will meet for the second day this morning to finalise its strategy for the Lok Sabha elections, due by May. Yesterday, after a meeting at the Constitutional Club in Delhi, the year-old party announced that its first list of candidates for the national elections will be out within two weeks while the full list will be released by February 15.
However, party chief
Arvind Kejriwal has said he will remain committed to Delhi and will not contest the polls. "I will campaign for the party nationally, not contest," he said yesterday. (
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Along with the 23 core members of its national executive, AAP's representatives from all over the country are attending the weekend meetings.
"We will fight the elections from most seats in most states," AAP leader Prashant Bhushan said yesterday. He later told NDTV that AAP expects to win at least 50 Lok Sabha seats in the elections.
According to sources, along with Delhi, AAP is looking at the states of Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat to build a strong support system for the national elections.
Amongst the big faces the party plans to field, reportedly, are Mayank Gandhi from Maharashtra and Sanjay Singh from Uttar Pradesh while senior party leader Yogendra Yadav is likely to be its chief ministerial candidate in the assembly elections in Haryana later this year.
AAP leader Kumar Vishwas has already declared that he will contest the Lok Sabha elections against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi from his constituency in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Mr Vishwas earlier this week said he doesn't just want to take on Mr Gandhi in Amethi, but would also like the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to join the line-up.
Of late, giving the AAP a boost are not so aam aadmis. Top banker Meera Sanyal, Captain Gopinath who created Air Deccan, Infosys board member V Balakrishnan and singer Remo Fernandez have joined the AAP movement.
Mr Kejriwal has urged "honest" people from all spheres and political parties, including Congress and BJP, to join his party in its 'fight against corruption'. AAP's Shazia Ilmi told NDTV yesterday that her party will field only credible and honest candidates in the elections, even at the cost of not contesting from certain seats.