Aam Aadmi Party gears up for LS polls, nationwide membership drive from Jan 10

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Gearing up for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will now conduct a nationwide membership drive `Mein Bhi Aam Aadmi` and has invited people from across the nation to join the party. “The membership drive will be held between January 10-26. We have decided not to charge the membership fee of Rs 10 which we used to charge earlier,” said party leader Yogendra Yadav while addressing reporters. Yadav said that emphasis will be on fielding good candidates on maximum number of seats in at least 15-20 states in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The party will form a three-member National Campaign Co-ordination committee which will look into party`s manifesto, fund raising, screen members who will contest LS polls and other functions related to polls, Yadav reportedly said. The committee will be headed by party leaders Sanjay Singh, Yogendra Yadav and AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta. Commenting on the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls, Yadav said that AAP plans to contest on all 10 Lok Sabha seats and 90 Assembly seats. "The Assembly elections in Haryana are due in October, but there are speculations that it might be held earlier or along with the Lok Sabha elections. The party has decided to contest all the Lok Sabha and assembly seats there," he said. While AAP plans to release the manifesto by March, the first list of candidates who will contesting Lok Sabha elections is likely to be declared by Jan 15-20. “We are looking at a Lok Sabha manifesto that will be applicable for the entire country. However, we also plan to encourage candidates to have a constituency based manifesto as well,” said Yadav. The National Executive meeting of the party continued for the second day today where party leaders deliberated and finalised a strategy for the upcoming polls. The party plans to prepare a blueprint for each state separately, as per reports. AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has ruled out contesting the Lok Sabha elections. However, AAP leader Prashant Bhushan had earlier declared that the party will contest "maximum number of seats" in as many states as possible. Meanwhile, Kejriwal on Saturday refused to move into a five-bedroom government flat that was allotted to him here following criticism and demanded a smaller house instead for his family.  "I won`t shift to the five-bedroom duplex flat," he told media before the start of the party meet.  "I have received lots of messages and phone calls from people and some close relatives suggesting that I should not accept such a big accommodation," he said. Kejriwal, who lives in Kaushambi in Uttar Pradesh`s Ghaziabad adjoining Delhi, had been allotted two adjoining five-bedroom duplex flats in the heart of Delhi.