If all goes well, one of the founding members of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and former chief minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal will campaign in Mysore-Kodagu Lok Sabha segment ahead of the general elections scheduled to be held in nine phases from April 7.
The ex-CM of Delhi is expected to tour here during his second slot of programme, said convener of the party in Mysore district M S Vinod.
AAP is confident of giving a tough fight to Congress and BJP in Mysore too, a repeat of Assembly polls in the national capital. Though the founder of Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) Dr R Balasubramaniam whom AAP wanted to field, made his intention clear, not to contest the polls, the Kejriwal led party is hopeful of finding a suitable candidate, said Vinod.
Probables
The party leaders have already held talks with Srikanth of DEED, an NGO in Hunsur working for the welfare of tribals, and retired ACP Ashok Kumar, popularly known as ‘Tiger’ Ashok, among others, but is yet to arrive at a consensus.
The party had invited the common man to contest the polls and the response has been encouraging, claims its leader, who says a clear picture is likely to emerge in a day or two.
To ensure transparency in selecting the candidates, the party has been following three steps to zero in on the contenders. The aspirants should have worked for the welfare of society, be patriotic, and be a ‘common man’ who can fulfil the preceding criteria.
Door to door campaign
Barely a month left for the polls in the State (April 17), AAP has already started its door-to-door campaigning in Mysore. The programme titled ‘Mane Manege Aaam Aadmi, Mane Maneyalli Aam Aadmi’, which is ongoing at Kuvempunagar, has covered Kesare and Agrahara. Also, the party opened its ninth office at Ittigegud on Wednesday.
The party has 5,000 members in Mysore district alone and has a steady team of 700 volunteers to take forward its poll strategies.
In Kodagu too, the party is not behind, having opened four offices, including one each in Madikeri and Suntikoppa.
