06 January,2014 04:22 AM IST | | Priyankka Deshpande
Despite its electoral success in Delhi, party gets a tepid response from aspiring contenders; leaders cite stringent selection standards as reason
Do you wish to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on an Aam Aadmi Party ticket? If yes, then you have to attach a document with signatures of 100 voters from each assembly segment of your constituency, giving the green signal for your candidature.
The rules do not stop here. Each aspirant's documents and credentials would be screened at district, state, and national level.
Although Aam Aadmi Party received a tremendous response from voters and came to power in Delhi, it is getting a relatively lukewarm reaction from aspiring candidates for the general elections from across the country.
Tough norms
AAP state general secretary and spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon told MiD DAY that so far only 1,600 submissions have been received from different parts of the nation. The online application forms for contesting the Lok Sabha polls became available on the party's website on December 23.
"73,000 forms have been downloaded from across the country, and 1,600 of them have been submitted," said Sharma. She added that after the party's victory in Delhi, its membership has suddenly seen a surge. "It is mandatory for applicants to attach a paper with 100 signatures of voters from each assembly segment of that particular Lok Sabha constituency, giving a nod to the aspirant's candidature," said AAP's national executive member Subhash Ware.
While party's state executive committee member Maruti Bhapkar confirmed that party's district level committee did not yet receive a single candidature from Pune district.
"To find out the party's Lok Sabha candidate from Pune, we have to wait for mid- February, when it would be possible to announce the name," said Abha Mulay, member of the party's state executive committee.
