SRINAGAR: The leaders and volunteers of the AAP from Jammu and Kashmir, who campaigned for the party candidates in the recent Delhi Assembly polls, are excited over party’s splendid performance in national capital and are hopeful that the expected model of good governance by Arvind Kejriwal Government will enable it to emege as a strong and alternate political force in the border state.
“We campaigned for the AAP candidates in Timarpur and Okhla constituencies,” the party’s J&K leader and National Executive Member I D Khajuria told Express.
He said his team, which also included Tanvir Dar, son of former Union Minister Mohammad Maqbool Dar, had campaigned in Delhi for nearly a month. Besides, Delhi-based students from Jammu and Kashmi had campaigned for the AAP candidates.
“We participated in road shows, door- to- door campaigns and other medium of electioneering and sought votes for our candidates,” Khajuria said, adding their hardwork had paid off as the AAP candidates in both the constituencies won by a big margin. Pankaj Pushkar defeated the BJP candidate by over 21,000 votes from the Timarpur seat while Amanatullah won by a margin of more than 60,000 votes from Okhla .
Khajuria said that after the AAP’s splendid show in Delhi, the enthusiasm among the party cadres and people in J&K had increased manifold. “I receive calls from people from across the state, including Srinagar and Baramulla districts everyday and they want us to do something in J&K also,” he said.
On whether the party has drawn up a “blueprint” for Jammu and Kashmir, the AAP leader said the national executive will meet a few days after Kejriwal takes oath as Delhi CM and will decide how to expand its reach in states, including J&K, where the PDP is in talks with the BJP for forming a government there.
He added that they would be exposing corruption in the state and compromise-type politics of the politicians.
Tanveer Dar, who unsuccessfully contested last year’s Parliamentary elections from the Anantnat-Pulwama seat on an AAP ticket and worked as a party volunteer during the Delhi polls, said the model of governance to be implemented by Kejriwal in Delhi would be followed across the country, including the Valley.
He said that the AAP had contested the Delhi polls on an anti- corruption and anti-communal politics plank. “People from all religions and sections of society voted for us because it was the only party that campaigned against corruption and hatred politics being employed by some parties, including the BJP,” he said.
Tanvir said like rest of country, people in J&K too wanted to get rid of corruption and communal-brand of politics. “Our leaders and volunteers will increase their activities and engagements in the state and we are hopeful that people having a good background would join us in the state to bring in the much-needed change in J&K in the next few years,” he said. The 39-year-old, a practising doctor, said with the passage of time and seeing the performance of Kejriwal Government, the people in J&K too will move away from traditional politicians and support them.