AAP eyes Kerala electorate

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced its entry in to the Kerala political turf, which has traditionally been dominated by the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Congress and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the CPI (M).

The political mindset of the state even left the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the dark for the last more than three decades as it could not open its innings even in the Assembly elections.

The AAP has announced it would contest in three constituencies, namely, Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Thrissur. Interestingly, three strong Congress leaders, Shashi Tharoor, KV Thomas and PC Chacko respectively represent these constituencies.

The party, which has roughly 50,000 members in Kerala, opened its state office at Kochi on Friday. The state unit of the party has set a target to enroll 200,000 members during its membership campaign.

Meanwhile, Malayalam writer and human rights activist has Sara Joseph joined the party. She, who had close association with the Left parties, is likely to contest in the elections.

Former Naxal leader, activist and writer, Ajitha has already backed Sara's candidature. The Kochi office was inaugurated by an old daily wage worker, who now actively works for the party.