We need just six months to bring change: AAP’s Prithvi Reddy

News Trail: Having swept the Punjab polls, what is your next target?

Prithvi Reddy: This year, we are targeting both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh which are going to Assembly polls. Already, the groundwork has been going on in these two states. As you are aware, we have secured the Surat seat and the Congress has been pushed to  third place.  In both states, there are bipolar fights. In our opinion it may be easy for us. After March 10 when the poll results came out, one major development has been that all these years people were praising us for doing a good job in Delhi. But they were of the opinion that we cannot win against this corrupt system. Politicians, activists, students, volunteers, donors would not believe that AAP can defeat the corrupt system. But that has changed after March 10. IAS, KAS and IPS officers, farmers, farmer leaders and farmer organisations have now started thinking about politics. Earlier, they were not bothered about elections or the candidates as they had nothing to do with it. Workers of  three major political parties who had worked but did not get recognition are also showing a lot of interest in us. It is an interesting development.NT: What are the conditions set before allotting membership of your party?
PR: We are always ready to welcome good people. If people do not come under the 3Cs, Criminal, Corrupt and Communal, they are taken into the party. They need to take the message of change to people. A revolution must happen.They need to be able to build the support base in their constituency or area. We normally do door to door campaigns and road corner meetings. In every constituency, we will select suitable candidates.Then they will be watched to see whether they are suitable for the AAP. All these years,an election meant distributing money  days before voting. Our style is different as we will go to people,clear their doubts. In six months before the election, we will announce the candidates for every constituency.

NT: .Will AAP contest in all 224 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka?

PR: Yes. in all 224 constituencies you will find candidates. The biggest problem in our state is that we are focused  only on Bengaluru-centric development and not bothered about the rest of the state. Leave alone north Karnataka, development has not reached even Tumakuru. Karnataka is a state and not a city. If we fight, we will field our candidates in all constituencies and not Bengaluru alone.
 

NT: There are only 12 months left for the elections. Is it enough for a new party like yours to take on three major political parties?

PR: To be frank, when you are trying to bring change we need just six months. We have a model which is the Delhi model. If like-minded people join hands it is possible to achieve development.  We have shown that we can win  just on development. We projected a similar model in Punjab and won the election. Delhi is not a full fledged state, all files would go to the LG. You  already know about the steps we have taken, people are now talking about officers in sub-registrar offices who have stopped taking bribes  after the AAP government came to power in Punjab.:That is the level of change which has happened in Punjab.After we came to power for the second time in Delhi, the Anti-corruption bureau was snatched away from us. We will make a strong lokpal in Punjab and address the unemployment problem. By the time the elections are due in Karnataka, we will have two models, Delhi and Punjab. This will help people to gain confidence.We are paying the highest crop compensation in the country though other political parties say there are not many farmers in Delhi. From April 1, 300  units of  power to each house will be free. it  will add to the goodwill the party has earned

NT: You were rejected in Karnataka in 2018 and 2019.