77. AAP list has crorepatis,

Not-so-'aam aadmi' party: AAP list has crorepatis, others with political links

Abantika Ghosh : New Delhi, Sun Jun 30 2013, 09:04 hrs  

Kejriwal assets Rs 1.7 crore-plus; Sisodia writes ‘?’ for value

One is an MBBS graduate who now runs a milk business, another a crorepati farmer, and then there is Manish Sisodia who claims to not know the value of his flat in Vasundhara Enclave, on the Delhi-Noida border. The first two lists of candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections released by Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party are high on variety and, surprisingly for its genesis as a party raging against big money, full of crorepatis.

If there is one thing that is supposedly common to them, it is the presumption that they have read Kejriwal's book Swaraj. That's one of the questions ticket-seekers are asked in their nomination forms, along with what they think of the book.

Apart from that, the AAP selection process is two tier. First the party's own leaders scrutinise the applicants. Details of the shortlisted candidates are then uploaded on the AAP website. Based on the feedback from voters, the final candidate is selected, said insiders.

For the 70 Assembly constituencies, 20 candidates have been finalised so far — including Kejriwal, Sisodia, Gopal Rai and Shazia Ilmi. Ten other names have been shortlisted.

Kejriwal is among those with assets more than a crore, with a flat worth Rs 1 crore in Gurgaon and a Rs 70-lakh plot in Ghaziabad's Indirapuram. Kejriwal lives in a government accommodation in Kaushambi in Ghaziabad allotted in his wife's name. However, for poll purposes, he has given his address as F-Block, Sundar Nagari, as it is imperative for any person fighting an Assembly election in Delhi to be a registered voter of the state. Kejriwal has said he would contest from whichever seat Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit decides to fight from.

Sisodia whose name has been finalised from Patpargunj in East Delhi mentions two flats — one in Ghaziabad and one in Delhi. However, he has not declared their current market value, putting a '?' under that head.