This Article is From May 04, 2017

Ditch The 'Aam', Behave Special: Arvind Kejriwal's New Mantra For AAP Lawmakers

Ditch The 'Aam', Behave Special: Arvind Kejriwal's New Mantra For AAP Lawmakers

Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party came a distant second in elections to Delhi's civic bodies

Highlights

  • After feedback sessions with Arvind Kejriwal, AAP wants makeover
  • Feels that party needs to hard-sell its achievements
  • AAP lost in crucial Delhi civic elections last week
New Delhi: Ditch the common man attitude and behave like "MLAs", Aam Aadmi Party lawmakers in Delhi have been told by their boss Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, after he received feedback from them that the political identity the party has courted to connect with its core voters, might just be working against them.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which means party of the common man, is attempting to put itself back together after being shredded in the Delhi civic elections last week. In one-on-one meetings that Mr Kejriwal has held with his party's 64 lawmakers, he has been told that despite the rigorous work they have done, it is not acknowledged because of they are just too, well, commonplace. 

The image makeover, party sources said, will not include a change in the way they dress. AAP leaders will continue to wear everyday clothes that Chief Minister Kejriwal favours and will not seek to stand out as politicians by wearing the trademark white kurta pyajama. But they now want to be recognised. 

For one, unlike politicians from other parties, AAP leaders, including Mr Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia, do not travel with big groups of hangers on. And most run offices out of small corners in their homes, instead of prominent places with big posters and party flags and people queued up outside. That needs to change, it has been decided. 

The feedback sessions with the Chief Minister also threw up the need to be seen more and take credit for work done. "We got so busy solving issues, that we did not propagate it. Work was getting done but people never realised it was done by AAP. We need to emphasise on that now," said one AAP lawmaker.  

Another lawmaker, also asking not to be named, has suggested "making friends in every colony who will talk about the work we have done."

"People need to notice that the road was repaired by their AAP MLA," he said, sure that people in his constituency ended up attributing much of the development work he did to the BJP, which runs Delhi's corporations. 

The BJP, which has dominated the Municipal Corporation of Delhi or MCD for the last ten years, was re-elected last week by a huge margin, winning 181 of 272 wards in three corporations. The Aam Aadmi Party, which had swept the Delhi assembly elections just two years ago, could win only 47 wards.
.