'I am not among one of those pompous politicians'

He doesn’t believe in promising aam aadmi “the moon”. Delivering on the ‘politics of change’, is his biggest challenge.

The journalist-turned-politician Ashutosh of the Aam Aadmi Party, in a tete-a-tete with Deccan Herald said he's positive about the outcome of the upcoming polls, inspite of being pitted against political heavyweights Kapil Sibal of the Congress and Harsh Vardhan of the BJP from Chandni Chowk constituency.

“I am not one of the pompous politicians who claim how many votes they will win by. But, I am positive. The game will be played in the court of people,” says Ashutosh.

Claiming that the AAP has brought down “cosy politics” to the “base level”, he adds, “Sibal and Vardhan were stalwarts in the public’s eyes. But, it does not matter anymore if you are a heavyweight. People want their issues to be addressed.”

According to Ashutosh, who resigned as the Managing Editor of the TV channel, Ibn7, to join AAP, people are tired of ‘dishonest scamsters’.

“The track records of the major national parties show dynasty politics and criminalisation of politics. While the Congress has been reduced to 10 Janpath (the official residence of Sonia Gandhi), the BJP is defined by (Narendra) Modi.”

Bringing fresh faces into the political foray is not just enough, he adds. “We need to empower the people through mohalla sabhas and abolish the VIP culture.”

Asked if the AAP has lost its popularity after its brief stint in governance, Ashutosh says, “Only a few intellectuals, who look at politics from the conventional point of view, claim to be disillusioned with AAP.”

He adds it is a vicious campaign against AAP’s effort to “cleanse politics”, which prompted “a section of people” to call Arvind Kejriwal an “anarchist” when he was on a sit. “He (Kejriwal) is not the first chief minister to be on a sit-in. When Modi was on a sit-in in 2006 in his capacity as a chief minister, he was not tagged an anarchist.”

Winning promises

If he wins a seat, decongesting Chandni Chowk area, improving the parking condition in Shalimar Bagh and developing schools and community centres in his constituency are on Ashutosh’s priority to-do list. “Not a single school has come up in this constituency in the past 20 years.”

“Also, Chandni Chowk is a place with immense historic value. It needs to be prominent on the global map. We would aim for redevelopment of the areas in this constituency while preserving its local culture.”