Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) State convenor B. Ramakrishna Raju has said that it has come as a pleasant surprise that the party has managed to do considerably well within a span of two months in Andhra Pradesh.
“Arvind Kejriwal had no hopes from Andhra Pradesh. In fact, the party leadership did not even think that we would go to polls this time. It came as a pleasant surprise for the party leaders in Delhi that we have managed to do well within a short span of two months that we had in our hands here (Andhra Pradesh),” Mr. Ramakrishna Raju said.
Banking on people’s goodwillHe said that the party did not believe in money power. “We don’t have money to woo the voters. We are relying only on the goodwill the party has generated among the people. We are trying to do our best within our means,” Mr. Raju told The Hindu on Wednesday. Pointing to the brazen way money is being squandered by candidates of major political parties , he said that AAP volunteers were visiting door-to-door to garner support from the people while others had been running an aggressive campaign to consolidate their vote bank.
The total election expenditure of the AAP in Andhra Pradesh is not more than Rs. 50 lakh, he said, adding that the party was fielding candidates for 93 Assembly and 13 Parliamentary segments this time.
“This is in stark contrast to the constant money flow by nominees of other parties. A candidate running for an Assembly seat is spending a minimum of Rs. 5 crore. All major political parties are seeking huge donations to meet the poll expenditure,” he pointed out.
Adequate time is what the AAP did not have at its disposal to reach out to the electorate and convince people on their ‘unconventional’ approach to the elections.
