In preparation for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will appoint around 2.5 lakh block-level committee members by November, the party’s Delhi convener, Gopal Rai, said on Friday.
Each member is expected to reach out to around 25 households, said Mr. Rai, adding that block presidents — one each for around 25,000 polling booths in Delhi — will also be appointed by November. The district and polling station-level presidents, called mandal and booth presidents respectively, are already in place, he said.
‘For every 25 households’
Along with each of the 25,000 block presidents, a block-level committee of around 10 people will also be appointed.
“These 2.5 lakh block-level committee members will be tasked with communicating with around 25 households each. They will communicate the party’s campaigns to the residents as well as take their feedback and questions,” said Mr. Rai.
While some block-level committees had existed before, Mr. Rai said that this will be the first time that all blocks will have committees and a president.
This will be similar to the BJP’s strategy of appointing panna pramukhs, which allocates one worker for every 30 to 35 families in the electoral roll.
‘First campaign in Dec’
With the Lok Sabha elections expected in April next year, Mr. Rai said the party would launch its first round of door-to-door campaign in December.
Though the party has not announced its candidates for the seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi yet, incharges for five of the constituencies were announced in June and these leaders are expected to be the candidates as well. The party yet to announce incharges for two seats — New Delhi and West Delhi.
Mr. Rai said the appointment of ward-level observers would be done after the announcement.
“So far, we have had one observer for each of the 70 Assembly constituencies. This time, we will be appointing observers for each of the 272 wards,” he said.
Apart from Delhi, the AAP will contest all seats in Haryana and Punjab, said Mr. Rai. A decision on contesting in other States, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Goa, will be taken at a later date, he added.