When AAP goes village to village...

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 7

The first day of the fortnight-long “parivar jodo” campaign of the Aam Aadmi Party in a Bathinda village saw varying shades of public participation — from thin to very thin. However, what stood out was the enthusiasm of the volunteers.

The small audience at Sangat Kalan village resulted in the AAP volunteers asking The Tribune team to travel to Mithi. Here, too, the organisers scrambled for an audience. Villagers at Mehta, later in the day, also did not come out in any large numbers. Did that dishearten the organisers? Far from it.

“Last night, the police came to my home and threatened my husband that he sold liquor to fund AAP activity,” said Sukhdev Kaur, a gritty AAP worker of the village, while addressing a small gathering at Phulo Mithi.

“We are not alone. The police slapped a false theft case on Anil and Sunil of the village because they were working for AAP. In Kailey Vandar, a police team entered the house of our worker citing a vague charge of instigating violence. My husband is a small farmer and I stitch clothes. We are poor, but not scared,” she said.

Her speech was cut short by Gurdeep Brar Malkana, sector in charge of Talwandi Sabo, Bathinda (rural) and Maur, and three supporters in a car.

Installing a makeshift speaker on the bonnet, Malkana said: “There are 30-odd listeners among more than 2,900 registered voters in the village. Why? Because, leaders threaten them with denial of benefits, including compensation for crop loss, old-age pension and scholarships for children. Our cadre, too, is being targeted. Devinder Kumar, our in charge, has been accused of sending malicious messages on the internet. He does not even have a computer.”

Malka is one among a team of 350 speakers, for the state, who attended special training by an expert faculty.

A former CPI member, Gurjant Singh, said: “The Leftdoes not seem to be returning to centrestage. The Akali Dal and the Congress have nothing to offer. I am putting my cards on AAP because these youngsters are giving me hope for change.”

Standing next to him, Didar Singh, in his early 20s, said: “Even with my education till just Class V, it looks like my life has got a purpose.”

Sat Lal, a panchayat member, said: “AAP needs to add the punch of quality speakers to public gatherings because in small villages, like ours, they are not so impressed with figures and content. They like style of delivery with drama.”

An elderly Sikander Singh said, “I have always been a committed Akali but now am convinced that the party symbol of ‘takdi’ is misleading. There is no pension coming from the past several months. Even if it came, Rs 250 was a joke.”