Karnataka polls: AAP is people's best option, established leaders not popular anymore, says party candidate Renuka Vishwanathan

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which won a thumping majority and came to power in Delhi in 2015, is all set to test its mettle in the 2018 Karnataka Assembly polls. Despite failing to win a single seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, AAP is positive about entering Karanataka’s political scenario. The party announced the names of 18 candidates on 17 March and expressed its desire to contest from all 224 constituencies. The party has fielded former IAS officer Renuka Vishwanathan in Shantinagar, one of the closely watched assembly constituencies in Bengaluru. She is fighting against the Congress MLA NA Haris, who is embroiled in a controversy following his son’s arrest in an assault case. In 2008, his party secured 52.35 percent of the votes from this constituency, and 52.45 percent in 2013.

But despite the strong Congress presence, AAP candidate Renuka Vishwanathan, who was the first woman District Collector from Uttar Karnataka and a 70’s IAS cadre, expresses confidence on her party’s victory. In an interview, Vishwanathan talks about her party’s strategy and why she feels AAP is the best choice for Karnataka voters.

Following are the statistics on the number of voters in the constituency:

What made you join politics?

After I retired, I did not take up any other job and was quite comfortable doing exactly what I wanted. I joined AAP four years ago because in it, I saw a party which had come to power through fair means and was running a government successfully without being corrupt. I had never seen anything like that in the 37 years I worked as an IAS officer.

Do you think it is difficult for a woman politician to make her mark?

The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded two women candidates. Apart from me, Malavika is contesting from Chamaraja in Mysore. I am a politician…I don’t think (being a woman) makes any difference. For example if you see Germany or England, somebody is chosen to lead a party because they are the best person to do it and not because of any connection that they might have. AAP is probably the only party where candidates are chosen on merit and not due to political or familial ties. For me, it (contesting polls) is easy as I have the full support of my family. I don’t think this is the case with every candidate. Given our social structure, familial expectations from women are necessarily higher than that from men. This makes it (contesting polls) a little difficult.

As a former administrator, what do you think are your chances of winning? Should a candidate’s background determine the public’s voting choice?

I honestly don’t think being a former administrator (would be a factor). The people know the type of mix they need in electing their representatives. I think they would look for somebody with prior knowledge and experience of having worked in the public sphere. They also look at the credentials of the party and what the party stands for, and also the integrity of the candidate. I am sure they will be looking at the complete personality of a candidate. The AAP has also fielded an autorickshaw driver as a candidate. That is the kind of mix the AAP has. What we are talking about is people who have integrity to lead an honest public life.

The AAP has said it will contest this election as a policy driven and not personality driven party. Do you think this will help AAP in entering Karnataka’s political landscape against the popularity of established leaders?

You would be amazed to see how unpopular candidates are. It is amazing how I never had to spend even a second to have people agree that they are not satisfied with the way things are. Everybody, irrespective of whether they were poor or rich, agreed to this. People are definitely very, very unhappy. I don’t really believe that established leaders are popular anymore.

What is the poll strategy of the AAP in Karnataka and how is it different from that of other parties?

You can see the difference everyday on the streets. We are the only ones campaigning. Nobody else is in the scene. We are doing door-to-door campaigning. As I don’t find any other party candidate visiting every household, I think the stage is open for us. (For other parties) all you have is a bunch of posters. We have been campaigning for three months. We meet people and they know about our party’s agenda towards development.

The AAP has been preparing ward level manifestos depending on local issues. What are the issues likely to be focussed on in the manifestos?

The ward level manifestos are basically those issues that come up when we visit various localities in the respective ward. People tell us about the issues they want addressed like drainage, garbage or pollution, and these are added to the manifesto. The AAP will also have a state-level manifesto based on the general issues where policies have to be framed to tackle problems like traffic congestion, solid waste management, etc.

Are the current leaders living up to their duty as MLAs/elected representatives of a constituency? If no, why?

I honestly believe an MLA’s job is not merely spending from the MLA fund and handing out goodies to people in the constituency. Apparently, a lot of people have started thinking that this is all that an MLA is supposed to do. An MLA is a member of the legislative assembly and should be attending all Assembly sessions, discussing and making laws for the benefit of people. They should bring up every complaint and issue that affects their constituency in a big way so that it addresses a greater issue in the state.

Given the unsuccessful attempt of the party in the 2014 Lok Sabha election where it failed to get even a single seat, what are the AAP’s chances in this election? What has changed since 2014?

Lots of things. You would remember that in 2014, the AAP had a very brief government in Delhi and then came back with a thumping majority in 2015. Then, the party puts its head to the ground and started changing things in Delhi. A lot of my campaigning is based on showing people what exactly the AAP has achieved in Delhi in the last three years. People, including children are looking at the changes brought about by our party and are visibly impressed.

Following the election schedule allegedly being leaked by the BJP’s IT cell in-charge, Amit Malviya, AAP held the EC responsible for the incident, calling it a ‘puppet’ in the hands of the BJP. What proof does AAP have on the accusation?

This information (of the election schedule) is supposed to be available only with the EC and only they can release it. The person who released the schedule was from the BJP. The BJP is obviously a part of it. It is running the government of India and we all know that all the appointments of electoral officers and the Chief Election Commissioner were made by the present government.

The 2018 elections are being seen as a battle between the BJP, Congress and JD(s). Do you think AAP will make an opening?

There is no difficulty in making an opening. Whenever we talk to people, they say they want change and what is this change? Today, the Congress is in power in the state and BJP in the Centre. People have been ruled by both, so where will they go for a change? The only other parties are the JD(s) and us. There is no reason as to why we shouldn’t be confident. People want change. We are their best option.