PROMISE FOR BETTER AMENITIES AAP confident of BMC poll success

AAP Mumbai president Preeti Sharma Menon asserts that the party nominees include 'karmath' or hardworking workers and not helicopter candidates

- Pranali Lotlikar

With the focus on improving basic services, including education and public transport, and clean governance, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is confidently making its electoral debut in the BMC polls, said Preeti Sharma Menon, party's Mumbai president and a national executive member.

Speaking during the FPJ Dialogue session on Tuesday, Menon, 57, said the AAP has thoughtfully fielded grassroots workers having a long history of local activism. "We have not given tickets to helicopter candidates. Our nominees include 'karmath karyakartas' or hardworking party workers, who have toiled in lanes and bastis for years. That is why I am confident that the AAP will enter the BMC," Menon said.

Elaborating further, she said if the party comes to power, it will ensure fulfilling two key objectives - immediate civic reforms and governance changes. The AAP has vowed to provide free electricity and water up to 200 units and 20,000 litres per household, respectively. These are the basic rights of citizens, said Menon, promising mohalla clinics and affordable healthcare, modelled on Delhi's system. The party will also revive public education, which according to her, is "Mumbai's biggest failure". It also proposed free bus travel for women, expansion of the BEST fleet and saving depots from commercialisation.