Delhi Lok Sabha polls: Familiar faces in AAP push to get middle class votes

Prabhanjan, an AAP volunteer, said the party was targeting the middle and upper middle class constituents of East Delhi through such campaigns, which were seen during the 2015 Assembly polls as well.

“May 12 ko jhaadu lagana hai,” said Bhaskar, going from one shop to another, as Mevani raised the slogan: “Delhi ki beti kaisi ho, behen Atishi jaisi ho.” (PTI)

Outside a fast food outlet in Lajpat Nagar’s central market, an AAP volunteer prodded Jignesh Mevani to put on a cap bearing the party’s symbol, or at least a scarf. The independent MLA from Gujarat’s Vadgam politely refused. However, for the next one hour, the 38-year-old Dalit leader, along with actor Swara Bhaskar, led a bunch of youth to canvas for AAP’s East Delhi candidate Atishi.

“May 12 ko jhaadu lagana hai,” said Bhaskar, going from one shop to another, as Mevani raised the slogan: “Delhi ki beti kaisi ho, behen Atishi jaisi ho.”

Reaching out to an elderly shopkeeper, she emphasised that Atishi should represent East Delhi in the next Lok Sabha, no matter who comes to the Centre.

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“Work carried out by AAP in areas of education and health is commendable. I thought as a celebrity, I have a responsibility to support an honest and capable candidate like Atishi… Gautam Gambhir is a good athlete. Of late, he is showing some athletics on Twitter too,” she told reporters.

As the campaign made its way through the market, buzz that “koi heroine aayi hai” grew stronger, and eventually grew to “Arey ye toh Swara Bhaskar hai.”

The two had campaigned for CPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar in Begusarai as well.

Prabhanjan, an AAP volunteer, said the party was targeting the middle and upper middle class constituents of East Delhi through such campaigns, which were seen during the 2015 Assembly polls as well. English pamphlets with a brief explainer on AAP’s demand for full statehood were also distributed.

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At Saket’s Anupam complex, actors Prakash Raj and Gul Panag canvassed for the party’s South Delhi face Raghav Chadha. Raj is contesting as an Independent candidate from Karnataka, while Panag had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 polls on an AAP ticket from Chandigarh.

All of them had a single message: That the polls were not for electing the Prime Minister, but “good candidates”. “I don’t believe this is an election for the PM like we are being told. We are a representative democracy, not a presidential form of government. We should elect representatives who are accountable to us,” Panag said.

Chadha echoed this: “No one knows who the PM will be. Vote for a candidate who is approachable and who will stand with you.