The AAP-le cart is not upset but upbeat after leaping to national status. The Aam Aadmi Party has been deemed a national party based on electoral performance in Punjab, Delhi, Goa and Gujarat. Ruben Mascarenhas, AAP national joint secretary and Mumbai working secretary, said first up, “We came in without money or muscle power, with no divisive agenda. The AAP is the youngest national political party in record time.”

When asked about the charge by PM Narendra Modi that the party wins votes because of a ‘revdi’ or freebie culture, Mascarenhas shot back, “This is not revdi culture. A revdi culture is giving the country’s resources to a select few. What the AAP has done is linked taxes that we pay to the facilities that the government gives its citizens. What we will do now is contest every single election, including all local elections in Maharashtra. The national label is an acknowledgement of the wide support that AAP enjoys. The response on the ground has been enormous, and we will continue building our party, brick by brick.”

In the end, Mascarenhas stated, “If numbers do the talking, then in Mumbai itself, 2.1 lakh citizens joined as AAP members in only one month of outreach. It is ever onwards for us, for as Arvind Kejriwalji has said: nothing can stop an idea whose time has come and India’s time has come.”

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Daily matters

For Dhananjay Shinde, state general secretary, the party’s emphasis was on improving daily living conditions, “on things that matter to the common man, that has propelled us forward and catapulted us onto the national stage. We are now looking at the Karnataka Assembly polls and in fact, every forthcoming elections.” He added that the votes came in because the party has its ear to the ground. “It is education, health, electricity and employment that are key issues and we have addressed these. In fact, we are a party run by volunteers. We do not have the funding of crony capitalists; we have highly motivated workers,” he said.

Shinde, when asked about the Maharashtra local body elections, said, “We will talk about employment as we know there is dissatisfaction with the current BJP and Shiv Sena in the state, as there was with the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation. The polls show that people know they have an alternative now, and they take it.”

Among the giants

Preeti Sharma Menon, AAP Mumbai president and National Executive member, had some famous and fiery last words when asked about the national party tag. She said, “When we stood at the Azad Maidan 12 years ago, we did not know what our future was going to be. We were ordinary people, working professionals, just common citizens who were unaware about the political system. Today, we are a national party, It is stupendous and the morale is very, very high. We stand among the giants. We all have grown up reading and hearing about Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee, and now their parties have lost the national label. It puts things into perspective about just how big an achievement this is.”

People’s rights

Sharma sees the Maharashtra local elections as a huge challenge. “Yet, it is also an opportunity given the varied ideologies,” she said. Asked about the ‘revdi’ charge, the Mumbai president shot back, “Revdi means freebies to a select few. What we do is give the right to live to people, right to electricity, water and education. When they pay taxes, it is their right.” Dismissing talk about AAP leader Manish Sisodia and corruption, she said, “Today, everybody knows how agencies are used by the central government.”

On questions about how the Khalistan supporter stain still sticks, Sharma said, “The central government’s propaganda is very strong. Today, Punjab has the lowest crime rate, but that truth is not brought out publicly. The people of Punjab, though, have spoken through the ballot box, as we are a party who acts and demonstrates, not just talks.” She said the delay of at least 25 elections in Maharashtra in different municipalities means that “democracy is hanging by a thread”. “Yet people are not fooled and their voice will be heard at the polls,” she added.

2,10,000
No of Mumbaikars who joined AAP in a month

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