Haritha John and Siddharth Mohan Nair | The News Minute | December 8, 2014 | 5.00 pm ISTThe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has run into trouble many times in the recent past with many people leaving the party, including some known faces in the party. While the party is busy with its campaign to capture Delhi in the upcoming polls, here is a reality check from Kerala. We, at The News Minute, decided to gauge the state of the party in Kerala. In particular, what the AAP candidates who had contested in Kerala in the Lok Sabha elections are doing currently. What came out was a bleak picture of the party in the southern state.Out of the 20 parliamentary constituencies in Kerala, AAP had fielded candidates in 15. Apart from grass-root social activists, candidates of the party included a retired IPS officer, a retired judge, an award-winning novelist and an award-winning journalist. Yet, all lost the elections and even their election deposit.The newly formed state Misson Vistaar team has only 3 of the 15 candidates in it. The others do not find place in the Mission Vistaar district teams either. This only shows that the Mission Vistaar team had either found substantial evidence to keep them away from party positions, or, the candidates themselves kept themselves away. Both, however, does not augur well for the party which is still to find a space for itself in the state.K.M. Noordeen, the chairman of the Aplha Pain Clinic - a palliative care unit, was the party’s candidate from Chalakkudy. After losing the election he was entrusted with the task of making a report of how each of the district committees in the state was functioning. Half way through, his work was stopped and the Mission Vistaar took charge. The man who was the party’s Lok Sabha candidate and also led a fact finding mission in the state does not even find a place in the newly formed district team, let alone the state team.“I am an ordinary volunteer of the party, I have not been asked to take up any positions,†he said to The News Minute. Asked if he felt sidelined, he said thus. “I have a lot of work in my Alpha Clinic. AAP has thousands of volunteers who will do the party work but my clinic needs me.†One would wonder if this was not thought of by him before standing for the elections as the party’s candidate.A similar reply was received by us from the party’s candidate who had contested in the Ponnani constituency. “I am busy with my business,†Shylock P.V. told us. When we asked him that if his business needed much of his time and therefore he could not find time for the party, why he had decided to contest the election, which is a huge task in itself, he lost his cool. Party sources have told us that he has been sidelined from the party activities and he too does not find place in the newly formed district team. Anita Pratap, 55, a well known face and former South-Asia bureau chief of the CNN was the party’s candidate from the Ernakulam constituency. Post elections, she was part of a five-member grievance redressal team in the state. The team had submitted its report to the national committee. Despite all this, she has been kept away from the newly formed state and district teams. “I am involved with The Energy and Resources Institute for its environment campaigns. I am also involved in some women empowerment activities. I do not want to take up any position in the party. Let the young blood run the show, we will support them,†she said. However, there are way too older people than her in the newly formed state team. When broached that the party’s presence in the state was not being felt, she was quick to put the blame on the state team. “This you should ask the state team. It is their responsibility. I am not a part of it,†she said.The party’s candidate from Palakkad was Padmanabhan Bhaskaran. He is hardly seen in the party meetings or activities. However, he rejected the claims and said that he was still an active worker. “I also have other issues related to the farmer community which I am involved in,†he said. Advocate Anil Aickara who was the party’s candidate from Kottayam did not mince words. “Kottayam was one of the first districts in Kerala where AAP’s work was started. Even we are unhappy with the reaction of the national and state leadership to the concerns of dedicated volunteers,†he said with pain. Rejecting the role of activists in main stream politics, including that of AAP, the lawyer said, “Good people and good activists will not be recognized by AAP or any other political party, AAP proved it finally.†He did not stop there. He further added that the new leaders were selfish. He attributed the distancing of many volunteers from the party to the selfishness of the leaders in the state. K.P. Ratheesh who was the party’s candidate from Kozhikode was straight to say that he is not active in the party now. “I am not active in the party and I will not disclose the reasons for the same to you, the media,†he said. “All what I had to say has been formally conveyed to the state team and I am waiting for their reply,†he added.Silvi Sunil who was the party’s candidate from Idukki was also frank in saying that she is no longer associated with the party activities. “There are a lot of ideological differences. The state leaders have a leftist background and are not effective. Neither do they have social work background. They should recognize the hard work of others in the party,†she said.We spoke to the Convenor of the Kerala AAP to get her views on this. Award-winning novelist Sarah Joseph displayed her usual optimism. She disapproved of all these claims and said that the party was getting stronger in the state. “We have recognized people with caliber. Everyone have their own choices. Those who quit did not make any affect on the party in the state,†she said.