NEW DELHI: After announcing the names of
candidates
for seven seats it will contest in the upcoming J&K assembly polls, Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday also shared its list of 40 star campaigners for the state. In keeping with the trend seen since the Lok Sabha elections, after
AAP
national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s name, his wife Sunita is firmly pitched at No.
2 on the list of campaigners submitted for approval to the Election Commission on Saturday.
One finds Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s name next on the list followed by former deputy CM Manish Sisodia who came out on bail earlier this month in the Delhi excise policy scam case and has since been out among people holding 'padyatras'. According to the party he will be stepping out of the Delhi more and more now for campaigning now.
The list of seven seats in J&K for which candidates were announced by party general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak include Pulwama, Rajpora, Devsar, Dooru, Doda, Doda West and Banihal.
The list of 40 star campaigners announced later in the evening on Sunday also includes senior AAP leaders Pankaj Gupta, Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Raghav Chadha, ND Gupta and Delhi ministers Gopal Rai, Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Imran Hussain, Kailash Gehlot and former health minister Satyendar Jain.
On
Sunita Kejriwal
continuing to stay at the top of the list of star campaigners even after Lok sabha polls as is being seen in Haryana and now in the J&K list, AAP sources say that this is strategically aimed at conveying to the people that Arvind Kejriwal is very much listening to their concerns through his wife who shares what the public feels with him when she visits him in Tihar jail. Kejriwal was arrested and is in jail in connection with a money laundering case related to the now scrapped Delhi liquor policy. The Supreme Court will be hearing his bail pleas on Sep 6.
“The party feels that public feedback reflects that people see Arvind Kejriwal as the face of AAP and his wife as a
star campaigner
helps establish that connect which people are looking for with the Delhi CM and AAP national convenor,” sources said.
Party leaders also feel that Sunita Kejriwal’s prominence on the star campaigner list is in no way a reflection on the status of other top leaders like Sisodia who, party sources say, is firmly stepping up the outreach among people since he came out on bail. On Sunday, Sisodia visited Punjab for the first time since his release from jail. He was seen offering prayers at Golden Temple with his family and visiting Wagah border along with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
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