AAP woos professionals ahead of polls to Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation council

HUBBALLI: In addition to consistently raising its voice on key issues concerning the citizenry of the twin cities for the past year, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has, as part of its preparations for the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) council polls, the party functionaries have been wooing engineers, teachers, doctors and other leading professionals.
Buoyed by its impressive performance in the election to the Surat Municipal Corporation, where AAP won 27 seats (of a total of 120), the party leadership is keen on strengthening its hold in Karnataka by making a splash in the urban local body polls. Romi Bhati, among other central leaders of the party, has been visiting the twin cities regularly, keeping a handle on AAP’s preparedness for the HDMC Council polls.
President of AAP’s Dharwad district unit Santosh Nargund said that, having established itself firmly in New Delhi, AAP had proven its mettle in Punjab and Gujarat as well. Emphasising the significance that the HDMC Council polls held for the party, Santosh Nargund told TOI, “For the past six months, we have been shortlisting potential candidates for all the 82 wards, and once the election date is announced, we will declare our nominees. We are convincing engineers, businessmen, et al, to take the plunge into politics with AAP. Citizens are disgusted with BJP, Congress and JD(S), and are expecting clean and efficient governance from AAP. Many professionals have already joined us, and are working to strengthen the party at the grassroots.”
AAP’s Karnataka convener Prithvi Reddy said that they had been issued directions from Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to select candidates who had a natural inclination to serve society. “While the state government is focussed only on Bengaluru, we are drawing up plans to transform Hubballi-Dharwad into a world class urban centre. We are not interested in the size of the candidates’ bank accounts. All we are looking at is their wish and their interest in doing their bit for the development of the twin cities,” he said.
Romi Bhati, who is in-charge of the party’s affairs in Karnataka, affirmed that the AAP’s central leadership was heavily invested in the party’s prospects in the HDMC polls. Pointing to the use of online portals to reach out to potential candidates, Bhati said, “The response was very encouraging with more than 200 people expressing interest in getting the party’s ticket. We are closely looking at the candidates’ qualifications, and interviewing each of them. This is an indication that the people of the twin cities want to give AAP a chance.”
Santosh Nargund said that the entry of former corporator ST Pujar, former Congress leader Basavaraj Kattimani and activist Gopal Kulkarni had strengthened the AAP in Dharwad.