New Delhi: The demand for Aam Aadmi Party to contest upcoming Assembly polls in Haryana again came to the fore today when some of its volunteers questioned the party leadership's decision in the matter, asking “whom should we vote for now”.
“If (controversial minister) Gopal Kanda can contest elections in the state, then why can't we? When there was a Modi wave in the country, the party polled over 5 lakh votes.
We have a dedicated set of workers. Whom should we vote for now?” a group of agitated party workers asked AAP leader and its Political Affairs Committee member Prashant Bhushan.
The senior lawyer tried to placate the AAP volunteers, who had come to the party's Hanuman Road office here, but they refused to relent.
Although one section of the AAP leadership, including its national convener Arvind Kejriwal, is not in favour of contesting the Haryana polls, another wants the party to enter the fray.
Kejriwal had even voiced a “personal opinion” that AAP should concentrate on contesting the Delhi elections. Accordingly, its National Executive took a decision in Punjab last month that they would not contest polls in Haryana and Maharashtra.
The AAP volunteers today also threatened to go on a fast outside the party office if their demand was not met. “Where is ‘swaraj' in the party? Volunteers were never taken into confidence by the national executive when the decision to not contest was taken.
“Prashant Bhushan says that if you don't have a viable option then we should press the NOTA button. But is it worth wasting over 5 lakh votes on NOTA?” said Dilbag Deswal, a volunteer from Panipat.
The volunteers also claimed they had been assured that the party would take a final call on the matter despite the national executive's decision to not contest the state polls.
“What are the volunteers expected to do? We toiled in Delhi, Varanasi but, when it came to our state, the party simply told us that we will not contest elections.
“We can neither go with BJP nor Congress or any other party,” added Rampal Mann, another AAP volunteer.
