Constituency new classroom for JNU professor Anand Kumar

NEW DELHI: It is past 4pm and a crowd of charged up AAP supporters are waiting at the Gokulpuri bus stand in northeast Delhi. The padyatra, to be led by professor Anand Kumar, AAP's Lok Sabha candidate from the area, will start a little late but the volunteers and supporters don't mind the delay. Amid a babble over the battle in Varanasi, a "non-existent" Modi wave and how Kejriwal will trounce his opponents, a cheer goes up as Kumar makes his appearance.

The 64-year-old, an old AAP associate and a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, is obviously a man in a hurry as is evident in his pace. He almost glides through the lanes of Gokulpuri and his much younger supporters struggle to keep pace with him.

"The North East Delhi constituency is a huge challenge for the party. In the assembly polls, Aam Aadmi Party won three seats and lost by a narrow margin in three. On the other hand, BJP won five of the 10 seats in this Lok Sabha segment. This constituency has some of the most underdeveloped areas in the city and it's necessary to take up these issues," said Kumar.

Several of his students from JNU are working tirelessly with Kumar, as are the local AAP volunteers. "We were earlier BSP supporters but now that the party has no base here, we are supporting AAP. The criticism against AAP for having run away from government is baseless. This is the only party that thinks of the poor and will work for their upliftment," said Sunita Devi, a fruit-seller.

Opinion is strongly divided in the area between BJP and AAP. Where several people pledged their absolute support for the party, there are others who were equally staunch in their allegiance to the saffron party. Radha Devi, a bookseller, dismisses AAP as a new party. "I will vote for Modi. He is the only one who can deal with corruption. I will also vote for him because he is single and will be able to devote all his time to the country," she says. A few more like her are staunch Modi supporters, albeit for different reasons.

"We gave AAP a chance but why did they leave. They should have continued in government and fulfilled their promises. I do not know who is the BJP candidate but I will still vote for him since I want Modi as the PM," said Satbir Khanna, a shopowner.

This is a question that all AAP candidates are having to deal with. Pamphlets have been issued that explain AAP's stand on this and several other issues but people have no time to read. "There is some disenchantment about how the party left government but we are trying our best to handle these questions. I have 18-hour-long days and am trying to meet as many people as possible. My days are filled with meetings, padyatras and volunteer mobilization," says Kumar.