AAP releases first list of 80 candidates

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday released its first list containing the names of 80 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections. The notable absence from the list is AAP state president Prithvi Reddy.

Prominent candidates include former Karnataka Administrative Services (KAS) officer K Mathai who will be contesting from Shanti Nagar against Congress incumbent NA Haris. Former Congressman and Supreme Court advocate Brijesh Kalappa will be given a ticket from Chikpet, where BJP’s Uday Garudachar is the sitting MLA.

AAP Bengaluru city president Mohan Dasari will be contesting from CV Raman Nagar constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs). Most of the party’s ticket holders are ordinary people, rather inexperienced in electoral politics.

Prithvi Reddy said that he would announce his candidature later on. He added that the party had focused on giving tickets to youth, women, farmers and social activists. “We believe that it is important for candidates to have experienced different stages of life to understand the pain of the common man and to represent their life experiences,” Reddy said.

“All of them have experienced different stages of life and represent the general society,” he added. The AAP leader said that more than half of the party candidates are under the age of 45, adding that they had given an opportunity to seven farmers, seven women and five social activists as well. Reddy said that the main plank of AAP would remain anti-corruption.