AAP raises bar for Lok Sabha ticket aspirants

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party has raised the bar for aspiring Lok Sabha candidates. Where it had asked every aspirant to collect 100 signatures of supporters for the assembly elections, now it wants them to get the same number of endorsements from each assembly segment of a Lok Sabha seat.

This means, if a constituency has five assembly seats, candidates willing to contest the elections have to get signatures from at least 500 supporters to validate their candidature. Interestingly, each Lok Sabha constituency in Delhi has 10 assembly seats. Hence, candidates must have a backing of at least 1,000 voters.

Shalu Kanojia, who looks after AAP office in Ghaziabad, said, "The move will show if there is adequate support for the candidates in their constituencies. This was even followed by Kejriwal during the Delhi assembly election".

The party has announced it will contest most Lok Sabha seats if it gets reasonable structure and good candidates. AAP has started receiving nomination forms from aspiring candidates. However, due to lack of clarity most of them have been asked to fetch more signatures to validate their candidature. The 12-page nomination form asks them to furnish details of immediate family members, sources of income, criminal record, educational details, political connection and affiliation to other organizations.