Lal Bahadur Shastri's grandson Adarsh Shastri to draft AAP's UP vision document

LUCKNOW: Former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's grandson Adarsh Shastri, who quit a cushy MNC job to join Aam Aadmi Party, will draft party's vision document for UP and manifestoes of 80 constituencies for Lok Sabha elections. The party will also take out 'Jhadu Sandesh Yatras' from February 15 to 25 in all the districts against corruption, caste and communal politics. AAP would also field "strong candidates against all major opposition leaders, faces of dynastic politics and those facing heinous criminal charges". The list will be out by February 5.

Adarsh, who along with senior party leaders including journalist-turned-politician Ashutosh and Sanjay Singh, was in the city to supervise the interviews of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, said, "Separate committees would be formed for every constituency to take feedback from people to draft separate manifesto."

"The party will also engage economists, activists and academics for the job. Similar process would be adopted for drafting of UP vision document. The deadline is March 15. The unique part would be that people will not only help in drafting manifestoes but will also spell out how and where candidates, if elected, will spend their MPLAD funds," said Adarsh, who is son of Congress leader Anil Shastri.

Adarsh said that he may also contest the election, if party asks him so. "But, at the moment my priority is to give shape to vision document for UP which, despite having all the required resources, is still one of the most backward states of the country," he added.

When asked why he chose AAP when his father is in the Congress and uncle Sunil in BJP, he said that he was an apolitical person but AAP's ideology, which he felt was more close to values of transparency and probity espoused by his grandfather and Mahatma Gandhi, compelled him to join politics. About "politically ideological differences" with his father, Adarsh laughed and said, "We have debated the issue number of times...I even invited him (father) to join AAP."

Earlier, at a press conference, Sanjay Singh, who is also AAP's UP in-charge, took a dig at SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's statement in which he hinted that his party may not field candidate against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi. "Earlier all parties had not fielded candidate against Mulayam's daughter-in-law in Kannauj Lok Sabha by-poll, which shows that all bigwigs attack each other in public but have an understanding to help each other win elections," he said. He also attacked BJP for felicitating MLAs accused in Muzaffarnagar.

Ashutosh hit out at BJP's prime ministerial nominee and chief minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi, saying how can you expect Modi to control corruption when he continued with a minister Babu Bokhiria, convicted by the court on corruption charges, in his cabinet?" On calling Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung a Congress agent, Ashutosh said, "LG is trying to scuttle Janlokpal Bill of AAP's Delhi government." On criticism of Arvind Kejriwal on governance, he said that people have high expectations from AAP government in comparison to other parties, hence even a small is blown up.