Chennai:
Inviting the people of Iddinthakarai in Tamil Nadu to become members, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has plans to contest from 12 to 15 constituencies in Tamil Nadu in the forthcoming general elections, a party official said.
AAP was approached by people of Iddinthakarai - the epicentre of the protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project spearheaded by People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) - who expressed their wish to join the party. Iddinthakarai is in Tirunelvelli district, around 650 km from Chennai.
The PMANE had earlier said that it plans to take the anti-nuclear power plant movement political by joining hands with AAP.
"It is stated by Tamil Nadu AAP that Iddinthakarai people and their representatives S.P. Udayakumar are welcome to join Aam Aadmi Party as basic members," AAP's state convenor Christina Samy said in a statement.
Asked about AAP's stand on nuclear power, Ms Samy said: "Shortly the party would come out with a clear stand on that aspect."
She said AAP's Tamil Nadu chapter enters the Lok Sabha election fray with an objective to defeat the corrupt politicians who should not be allowed to enter Parliament. "We are on the look out for good candidates. The people of Iddinthakarai can become members of the party without any hassle," Ms Samy told IANS.
The party is gearing up for the general elections and trying to enroll around 7500 volunteers for each constituency for poll work, party's state treasurer Anand Ganesh V told IANS. "We have offices in almost all the districts in the state," he said.
On the charge that the party has not been aggressive and seems to be soft on the state's ruling AIADMK, Mr Ganesh said: "AAP campaign in the state is not offensive. We will bring the truth out. Ours will be an awareness creating campaign."
Disagreeing with the perception that AAP is a party of NGOs, Mr Ganesh said that though a lot of NGOs are joining them, the party has members from different walks of life and in varied ages ranging from 18 to 70.