Karnataka convener of the Aam Aadmi Party, Prithvi Reddy, filed his nomination papers on Thursday for the Sarvagnanagara assembly constituency in Bengaluru.
Prithvi and his supporters took out a rally from the AAP office on Kammanahalli Main Road until the office of the election officer on Dodda Banaswadi Main Road, meeting residents along the way. He was joined by his family members, AAP National Secretary Pankaj Gupta, AAP Karnataka State Affairs Coordinator Shivakumar Chengalaraya and other party officials.
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Prithvi Reddy is up against the Congress heavyweight KJ George, who won this seat in the previous two elections and is the Minister for Bengaluru Development and Town Planning in the Karnataka government. Other parties have not yet declared their candidates from this constituency.
Speaking to TNM, Prithvi said, “This constituency has seen extreme neglect even after being represented by KJ George, a senior minister and a former Home Minister. In this large constituency of almost 3.5 lakh voters, there is no government hospital; just one poorly-equipped health center. All the problems like traffic, water availability, garbage collection and crime against women are all serious concerns here. If the minister cannot look after his own constituency, how can he look after the entire city?”
When asked about his election strategy, he said, “Door-to-door campaign has been our USP. We have made ward-wise manifestos and are reaching out to people for suggestions.”
Asked why he chose such a tough seat where he is fighting against a senior minister, he replied, “Any politician who takes people for granted and thinks that he can win using money and muscle power is making a big mistake. We are a democracy and, ultimately, people must decide. All these days, people did not have an alternative. Now, we have given them an honest choice and I believe people will vote for us in large numbers and make us win.”
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Speaking to TNM, AAP State Affairs Coordinator Shivakumar Chengalaraya said, “We have declared candidates for 28 Assembly seats till now and will declare a few more by the end of this week, taking the total to around 35-40. We are hopeful of winning at least 25 seats in the state. We are fighting with unity in all the districts.”
When asked which party AAP will support in case of a hung assembly in Karnataka, he said, “Our ideology is very clear – fighting against corruption. All the three major parties here (Congress, JD(S) and BJP) are totally corrupt. They are dynastic and fascist. We cannot support them. We will become a good Opposition party, raising the voice of the people”.
Darshan Jain, the party’s media coordinator for the state, told TNM, “Several luminaries like Justice Santosh Hegde (former Karnataka Lokayukta and SC judge), Admiral Ramdas, former Chief Justice of India MN Venkatachaliah, etc., have supported and endorsed Prithvi Reddy’s candidature. We have a lot of support from the people.”
In this David vs Goliath battle, it will be interesting to see how things shape up in the near future as AAP also makes its debut in Karnataka assembly elections.