Bengaluru: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has promised to replicate the ‘Delhi model’ of governance in Bengaluru if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wins Bengaluru city municipal body polls to be held early next year.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru after inaugurating AAP’s first ‘Aam Aadmi Clinic’ in the city Wednesday, Sisodia said: “We will talk about only developmental work and not indulge in any sort of caste politics.”
He added: “If Delhi students from government colleges can now find admissions in IIT and other prestigious organisations, why can’t it be replicated in India’s IT capital as well?”
The AAP had contested the 2018 assembly elections in the state, but failed to open its account.
In the municipal body elections, the AAP has decided to field candidates in all 198 wards. Healthcare and education will be the centrepiece of their electoral campaign, the party said in a statement issued Thursday.
Currently, the BJP controls the municipal body.
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‘Promising basic necessities and will deliver it’
Highlighting that the AAP government in Delhi is a model of how elections can be fought on healthcare and education and not on money and muscle power, AAP’s Karnataka state convener Prithvi Reddy told ThePrint AAP is a party that addresses the basic needs of people, instead of forcing people to vote on religion and caste.
“Our survey has shown that more than 70 per cent of Bengaluru residents want change — they want governance that addresses bijli (electricity), paani (water), healthcare and education. We are promising basic necessities and will deliver it. We have a proven working model in Delhi. Which party has that to showcase apart from their unfulfilled promises?” Reddy said.
He said the AAP had tried to field candidates in the 2015 Bengaluru municipal elections too, but it pulled out at the last minute as party leaders felt they were not prepared enough to contest the polls.
But this time, the party has decided to go all out and ensure that people understand elections can be fought beyond religious and caste lines, Reddy added.
AAP promises door-delivery of services
The AAP feels setting up of the ‘Aam Aadmi Clinic’, similar to the Delhi government’s popular ‘Mohalla Clinic’, could give it some leverage in the civil polls.
The clinic will conduct medical check-ups, tests, and provide medicines free-of-cost.
Reddy said the AAP promises corruption-free governance and door-delivery of government services.
“Right from your birth and death certificates, land documents, medical assistance will be delivered to your doorstep. We are here to build confidence among people that things can be achieved without corruption. All other problems like garbage collection, contaminated lakes and bad roads are linked to corruption,” he added.
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