Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Maharashtra spokesperson Mukund Kirdat, in an exclusive interview with The Free Press Journal, emphasised that the party is planning to contest all 288 seats in the upcoming state Assembly polls. Kirdat stressed that AAP's ideologies do not align with either the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) or with the ruling Mahayuti, leading them to decide to go solo and emerge as a "clean" alternative amid the "muddy" politics in the state. He also revealed that the national leadership is currently focussed on the polls in Haryana, and once those are concluded, candidates for Maharashtra will be declared.
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AAP backed MVA in the Lok Sabha polls. What about the Assembly polls?
AAP is planning to contest all 288 seats in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls. All state office-bearers have conveyed this to the national leadership. Now, the ball is in the national leadership's court.
Do you have strong enough candidates to compete with the MVA and the Mahayuti?
"Strong" isn't the correct word here. In other parties, they have "strong" candidates who possess money power, muscle power, powerful connections, and political legacies. However, AAP doesn't rely on any of these. AAP represents the common man. We are a party formed through an agitation. If you look at our leaders—from Arvind Kejriwal to Manish Sisodia—none of them are "strong" in the conventional sense. For us, "strong" means someone who is hardworking and efficient, and we have many such people tirelessly working for the party in the state.
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If AAP leaders are elected in Maharashtra, will they ally with the MVA?
This is a question that can only be addressed after the polls. We were part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) during the Lok Sabha polls because its main objective was to curtail Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dictatorship. This objective was achieved to a certain extent, as the BJP fell well short of the majority mark. During the Lok Sabha polls, our workers campaigned for MVA candidates in the state without expecting anything in return. However, if we look at the current political landscape in Maharashtra, it has become very muddy; it's hard to tell which leader belongs to which party. Hence, AAP stands as the only clean alternative for the people of the state.
When will the candidates be declared? And do you wish to contest?
The AAP's Maharashtra unit is currently conducting a survey and compiling a list of aspirants from each seat. Our national team, which includes Sanjay Singh, Pankaj Gupta, Sandeep Pathak, and others, will decide on the candidates once the survey is completed. As for me, I did contest the elections in 2019 from the Shivajinagar Assembly constituency. If the party asks me to contest again this time, I will.
Recent surveys show MVA crossing the magic number of 144. How do you see it?
If we look at the surveys, although MVA is leading in the number of seats, there is a neck-to-neck competition between the two alliances. This clearly indicates that the people are in a dilemma, as neither of them appears reliable. This suggests that there is a vacuum for an alternative, and AAP could fill this void very effectively. Just last month, there were two large protests— one in Badlapur and the other in Pune—both led by common people. This indicates that the public has lost all hope in politicians and is therefore, taking matters into their own hands.
Do you think the 'Ladki Bahin Yojna' will create an impact in the polls?
The situation in Maharashtra is very different. If the ruling party thinks that the success of such a scheme in Madhya Pradesh will help them win here, they are mistaken. The people of Maharashtra are knowledgeable; they aren’t blind to what has happened over the last 2.5 years, and they won't fall for such tactics. Instead of introducing such schemes, they should first understand what true women’s empowerment means. Additionally, all three constituents of the Mahayuti—BJP, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP—are fighting to take credit for this scheme. Why has this situation arisen? Because they haven't done any real work while in power. Previously, politicians would offer cash for votes; this is the same, just in a different form.
From traffic congestion to flooding, Pune is facing several issues. How do you think the Punekars will vote this time around?
The PM Modi-led government often talks about "double-engine sarkar" and "triple-engine sarkar." If you look at Pune, BJP MPs have been elected since 2014; most MLAs are from the BJP, and the majority of corporators were also theirs. Even though there isn't a sitting corporation, the administrator operates under the state government. So, why is Pune facing so many problems? Women are afraid to leave their homes in areas like Kothrud, where the 'koyta' (machete) gang is active. Pune was once known as the cultural capital, but the BJP is responsible for this major decline. What has happened to the river development project after crores of rupees were spent? We all saw the results during the floods. Pune ranks seventh among the top 10 most congested cities in the world, and the Mula-Mutha river is the second most polluted in the state. So, one has to ask, is there anything actually good in Pune?
