AAP announces first list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls. Will they beat heavy weights?

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday announced its first list of 20 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, pitting its leaders against heavy weights such as Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh Yadav, former BJP president Nitin Gadkari and Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, Kapil Sibal and Suresh Kalmadi.

The party leadership, which has picked corruption as its main campaign pitch, has also decided to take on the Ambani brothers for ‘crony capitalism’. The party, while in Delhi government, had already lodged an FIR against Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani over the gas pricing issue.

Senior AAP leader Prashant Bhushan told ET that the party is working towards exposing the corrupt nexus of industrial houses and politicians and this campaign will become even louder in the days to come.

“It’s clear that the upcoming Lok Sabha is one of AAP versus Reliance as the latter controls the Congress and the BJP. We are not going to spare Anil Ambani either,” he said. “We have chosen to focus on Reliance because it’s the epitome of crony capitalism and how its influences policy making in our country,” he added.

AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, too, hinted at this in his tweet on Sunday morning: “Wud (sic) 2014 elections be fought betn (sic) AAP n Mukesh Ambani, with Rahul and Modi being agents of Mukesh Ambani?” According to party sources, AAP will soon level some serious allegations against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi over granting huge and undue favours such as land at subsidised rates to industrial houses.

AAP hopes that its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections will also send out its message against corruption, criminality and dynastic politics. Speaking to reporters right after the announcement of the first 20 candidates, AAP leader Manish Sisodia said, “Our aim to prevent MPs with criminal and corrupt record from being elected to the Parliament this time. Our list of candidates reflects that intention.”

The party has pitted Kumar Vishwas against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, former banker Meera Sanyal against Union minister Milind Deora and Mayank Gandhi against Congress leader Gurudas Kamat.

TV journalist-turned-politician Ashutosh will contest from Chandni Chowk seat in Delhi held by Union Minister Kapil Sibal. AAP has given ticket to former scribe Mukul Tripathi for Farrukhabad seat in Uttar Pradesh, the constituency of another Union minister Salman Khurshid. AAP ideologue Yogendra Yadav will contest from Gurgaon. Yadav has also been appointed the party’s Haryana in-charge.