Why or When did I start supporting AAP?

People ask me why or when I started supporting AAP?
Up to 2011, I preferred BJP over the Congress as I considered the BJP a better party.
When the Singur agitations was going on, one month before Ratna Tata actually decided to shift the Nano project to Gujarat, i had stated in our blog that the Nano would go to Gujarat as I considered Narendra Modi very dynamic.
However, when the agitation of Anna started in 2011, I started supporting them and became their member,
In 2012, when IAC sent SMS to all members asking their opinion on the formation of a political party, I was one of the millions who gave our approval.
AAP was formed on 26th November 2012.
Up to now, on seeing movies like "Naik" or "Singham", we would only wish that in actual life there were heroes who could take on the establishment and straighten these crooks. 
However, in actual life, when somebody dares to take them on, we all scoff at him. 
We prefer to sit in our armchairs, in front of a TV, taking our tea, citicising the system, the corruption but will not help a person who wants to clean the system. 
When Gandhiji started his movement to rid India of the British, their must have been many Zamindars and government employees who scoffed at him and, may be, even hindered him by spying on him and reporting to the British. 
But the movement succeeded, didn't it? 
This movement, to rid India of corruption, which we call the second war of independence will also succeed, with or without you. The minds of Indians are fired with new hopes. Millions of volunteers are working all over India and the world, giving time and money for this cause.
When you are old and when your grand children ask you whether you were part of the movement which rid India of corrupt politicians, what answer will you give them?
AAP presently requires both your money and your time to make calls to Delhi citizens.
We have so far collected about Rs 13 crores for the elections.
During the last elections for Delhi in 2013, we had collected Rs 20 crores and thereafter stopped our collections.
Has any party ever stopped collecting donations after reaching their collection target?
That is our AAP.

Result of Call Campaign 31.01.2015

Total Calls made - 83
Matured - 43
Yes (Y)- 26
No (N)- 0
disconnected (DC) -2
Undecided (UD) - 2
Busy (B) - 10

If we divide the Busy callers equally beween the Y & N

% of Y = (26+5)x100/43 =72
% of No = (5++2+5)x100/43 = 28

Converted into seats for AAP = 70 x .725= = 50
Balance 20 seats for BJP, Congress & others

As per the AAP Caller site emc 3 site

Calls made at 13.56 Hrs -
Yes - 47362 ( 73.63%),No- 7919(12.31 %), Undecided - 9042(14.06%)- Total 64323
Calls made at 20.20 Hrs -
Yes - 49393 (73.96%), No- 8109(12.14%), Undecided - 9281(13.90%) - Total 66783

If you compare the results today with those of the 29th, you will note there is an improvement in the position of AAP  both percentage wise and seat wise.

Who are AAP volunteers?

I have given above an idea from where our volunteers are calling and contributing to AAP.
Have you ever seen such transparency of a political party in India's history?
During my call campaign to Delhi voters, many of the called persons would be surprised that I was calling from Kolkata to Delhi voters to convince them to vote for AAP in Delhi elections. 
I would then explain to them that we were all AAP volunteers, using our own money and giving our time for a cause. 
The cause was to give India a corruption free government. 
We Indians all over India and the whole world, who have the good of India at heart, are telephoning from cities around the world and also contributing to the AAP fund for the Delhi elections. 
As on date we have been able to collect about Rs 12.92 crores. 
During the last elections at Delhi in 2013, we stopped taking donations after we achieved our target of Rs 20 crores. 
Have seen any party in India stop taking donations after their target had been met?
In the parliamentary elections, we were able to collect about Rs 32 crores for the complete elections.
Compare this to the BJP spending Rs 10000 crores during the parliamentary elections.
With their total pack of MPs canvassing in Delhi, they must be spending about Rs 10 crores daily on the elections. 

Complaint to CEC regarding scurrilous news items

30.01.2015

The Chief Election Commissioner,

New Delhi

Dear Sir,

About two days ago, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, Convener of Aam Aadmi Party had expressed fears that the opposition, especially the BJP, would release false sting operations to the media who would willingly play them out for they, the media, are completely compromised.

The fear is very real.

During the last Assembly elections we had seen how sting operations carried out by the BJP were doctored to bring the AAP candidates into disrepute.

AAP fears that there will be a repeat of the same process this time. 

AAP has no objections in playing out the stings if they are true. 

However, AAP does not believe, they will broadcast the true videos. 

They will doctor them and then broadcast them.

AAP demands that before the videos are broadcast, they should be checked by AAP for their authenticity and then only should they be broadcast.

I feel, this is a very reasonable demand of AAP and all the media should be restrained from broadcasting any video unless it has been cleared by AAP for authenticity.

Yours sincerely,

Radheshyam Sharma

188, Bangur Avenue,

B-Block,

Kolkata - 700055

Cell: 9331259878

31.01.2015

Dear sir,

Just yesterday, I had written to you about preventing the media from publishing any matter regarding AAP candidates without first confirming the truth regarding the matter.

I am attaching items published by the TOI group regarding seizing 5000 liquor bottles form Naresh Balyan's residence during a raid by EC . Naresh Balyan is the AAP candidate from Uttamnagar.. Then they made a correction saying that the raid was from a godown not belonging to Naresh Balyan.

The Navbharat Times just confirms the above.

I have also attached a survey purported to have been carried out by Zee news wherein they have shown the BJP getting 52 seats against the AAP's 14.

The figures are completely false and they should be restrained from publishing such false surveys unless they can provide raw data.

Yours sincerely,

Radheshyam Sharma

188, Bangur Avenue,

B-Block,

Kolkata - 700055

Cell: 9331259878

Analysis of the candidates going into the Delhi Elections 2015

[National Election Watch news] Press Release: 114 (17%) out of 673 candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves and ​230 (34%) candidates are crorepatis in the 2015 Delhi Assembly Elections. Average Assets per candidates: Rs. 3.32 crores

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ADR India via googlegroups.com	16:07 (3 hours ago)
to national-elect., national-ew-ne.

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30th January, 2015

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​Press Release​

Delhi Assembly Elections, 2015

Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates

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​Dear friends, 

Reports in English are attached with this mail​. Hindi Reports can be found on www.adrindia.org 

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Delhi Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 673 candidates who are contesting in the 2015 Delhi Assembly Elections. There are 70 political parties fielding candidates in these elections. In the previous elections in 2013 there were 77 political parties that contested and in 2008 there were 68 political parties that were in the fray. There are 66 (10%) female candidates out of 673 candidates contesting this year. In 2013 there were 71 (9%) female candidates out of 810 candidates in the fray and in 2008 there were 81 (9%) female candidates out of 875 candidates contesting the elections.​

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Criminal Background

• ​Candidates with Criminal Cases: 114 (17%) out of 673 candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. During the previous Delhi Assembly elections in 2013, out of 796 candidates analysed, 130 (16%) candidates had declared criminal cases against themselves and in the 2008 Delhi Assembly elections, out of 790 candidates analysed, 111 (14%) candidates had declared criminal cases against themselves.

• ​Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 74 (11%) out of 673 candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. During the previous Delhi Assembly elections in 2013, out of 796 candidates analysed, 94 (12%) candidates had declared serious criminal cases against themselves and in the 2008 Delhi Assembly elections, out of 790 candidates analysed, 32 (4%) candidates had declared criminal cases against themselves.

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  ​Party wise Candidates with Criminal Cases: 27 (39%) out of 69 candidates from BJP, 23 (33%) out of 70 candidates from AAP, 21 (30%) out of 70 candidates from INC, 12 (17%) out of 70 candidates from BSP, 1 candidate fielded by SAD and 15 (8%) out of 195 independent candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

• Party wise Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 17 (25%) out of 69 candidates from BJP, 14 (20%) out of 70 candidates from AAP, 11 (16%) out of 70 candidates from INC, 11 (16%) out of 70 candidates from BSP, 1 candidate fielded by SAD and 9 (5%) out of 195 independent candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.​

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• ​Candidates with cases of murder and attempt to murder: 1 candidate has declared cases related to murder and 5 candidates have declared cases of attempt to murder.

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  Candidates with cases related to Crimes against Women: 8 candidates have declared cases related to crimes against women. Out of these, 3 candidates have declared charges related to assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty (IPC Section-354), 3 candidates with charges related to word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman (IPC Section-509), 1 candidate with a charge related to husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty (IPC Section-498A), 1 candidate with a charge related to causing miscarriage without woman's consent (IPC Section-313) and 1 candidate with a charge related to kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage, etc. (IPC Section-366).*a candidate may have more than one charge related to crimes against women

• Candidates with cases related to Robbery and Dacoity: 4 candidates have declared cases related to robbery and dacoity. These cases include charges related to dacoity (IPC Section-395), robbery or dacoity with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt (IPC Section-397) etc.

• Red Alert Constituencies*: 19 constituencies have at least 3 candidates with declared criminal cases. Tughlakabad constituency has five candidates who have declared criminal cases against themselves.*Red Alert Constituencies are those which have 3 or more candidates with criminal cases contesting elections.​

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​Financial Background​

• ​Crorepati Candidates: 

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  230 (34%) out of 673 candidates are crorepatis. During the previous Delhi Assembly elections in 2013, 265 (33%) out of 796 candidates analysed were crorepatis and in the 2008 Delhi Assembly elections, 180 (23%) out of 790 candidates analysed had declared total assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore.

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  ​High Asset Candidates: 62 (9%) out of 673 candidates declared assets worth more than Rs. 10 crores. 

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• ​Party-wise Crorepati Candidates: 59 (84%) out of 70 candidates from INC, 50 (72%) out of 69 candidates from BJP, 44 (63%) out of 70 candidates from AAP, 28 (40%) out of 70 candidates from BSP and 27 (14%) out of 195 independent candidates are crorepatis.

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  Average Assets: The average assets per candidate for the Delhi 2015 Assembly elections are Rs. 3.32 crores. The average assets per candidate analysed in the previous Delhi Assembly election 2013 were Rs. 3.43 crores and the average assets per candidate analysed in the 2008 Delhi Assembly elections were Rs. 1.77 crores.​

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  ​Party-wise Average Assets: Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 70 INC candidates are Rs 9.60 crores, 70 AAP candidates have average assets of Rs.5.89 crores, 70 BSP candidates have average assets worth of Rs.2.16 crores, 69 BJP candidates have average assets worth of Rs.7.96 crores and 195 independent candidates have average assets of Rs. 63.35 lakhs.​

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  ​Candidates with High Liabilities: A total of 32 candidates have declared liabilities of above Rs. 1 crore. 3 candidates have declared liabilities of Rs. 10 crore and above.

• ​Candidates with High Income as declared in ITR*: 5 candidates have declared total annual income of more than Rs. 1 crore. 

• ​High Asset Candidates who have not declared Income Tax Details*: 261 (39%) candidates out of 673 candidates have not declared income tax details. 15 candidates with assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore, have not declared Income Tax Details.* Some candidates may be exempted from filing Income Tax Returns

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​Other Background Details​

• Education Details of Candidates: 26 candidates have declared that they are illiterate. 374 (56%) candidates (not including candidates who are illiterate) have declared that have an education qualification of 12^th pass or below while 265 (39%) candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. 11 (2%) candidates have declared that they have doctorate degrees.​​

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• Age Details of Candidates: 465 (69%) candidates have declared their age to be between 25 to 50 years while 194 (29%) candidates have declared their age to be between 51 to 70 years and 6 (1%) candidates have declared their age to be above 71 years.

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  Gender Details of Candidates: There are 66 (10%) female candidates out of 673 candidates contesting this year. In 2013 there were 71 (9%) female candidates out of 810 candidates in the fray and in 2008 there were 81 (9%) female candidates out of 875 candidates contesting the elections.

Analysis of Financial Details of Re-contesting MLAs

• MLAs Contesting Again:  Delhi Election Watch (DEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analyzed the affidavits of 62 outgoing MLAs who are contesting again in the 2015 Delhi Assembly Elections.

• Average Assets in 2013 Elections: The average assets of these 62 re-contesting MLAs fielded by various parties including independents in 2013 were Rs 11.66 crores (Rs. 11,66,16,836.83)

• Average Assets in 2015 Elections: The average assets of these 62 re-contesting MLAs in 2015 are Rs 11.48 crores (Rs. 11,48,39,470.93).

• Average Asset change from 2013 to 2015: The average assets of these 62 re- contesting MLAs, between the Delhi Elections of 2013 and 2015 decreased by Rs. 17.77 lakhs.

• Percentage change in assets from 2013 to 2015 Average percentage change in assets for these 62 re-contesting MLAs is -2%.

• Highest growth in Assets from 2013 to 2015:

S.No	Name	Party in 2015	Party in 2013	Constituency In Delhi Election 2015	Constituency In Delhi 2013	Assets in Delhi Election 2015	Assets in Delhi 2013	Asset Increase	% Increase in Asset	Assets value not given
1.	Manjinder Singh Sirsa	SAD	SAD	Rajouri Garden	Rajouri Garden	2,39,40,96,185 239 Crore+	2,35,51,23,043 235 Crore+	3,89,73,142 3 Crore+	2%	Delhi Election 2015:Deposits in Banks:⇒Value not given for SB 015501517575 ICICI Bank ltd. Punjabi Bagh Delhi 2013:Deposits in Banks:⇒Value not given for SB 015501517575 ICICI Bank ltd. Punjabi Bagh
2.	Ramvir Singh Bidhuri	BJP	BJP	Badarpur	Badarpur	15,98,92,678  15 Crore+	12,19,46,408  12 Crore+	3,79,46,270 3 Crore+	31%
3.	Haroon Yusuf	INC	INC	Ballimaran	Ballimaran	3,73,99,506  3 Crore+	1,07,15,369  1 Crore+	2,66,84,137 2 Crore+	249%
4.	Kulwant Rana	BJP	BJP	Rithala	Rithala	8,43,04,282  8 Crore+	5,82,62,093  5 Crore+	2,60,42,189 2 Crore+	45%
5.	Devender Yadav	INC	INC	Badli	Badli	29,53,96,702  29 Crore+	27,43,03,290  27 Crore+	2,10,93,412 2 Crore+	8%

Regards,

Media and Journalist Helpline +91 80103 94248 Email: adr@adrindia.org

Maj. Gen. Anil Verma (Retd.) Head National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms 011 4165 4200, +91 88264 79910 adr@adrIndia.org, anilverma@adrindia.org

Prof Jagdeep Chhokar IIM Ahmedabad (Retd.) Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +91 99996 20944 jchhokar@gmail.com

Prof Trilochan Sastry IIM Bangalore Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +91 94483 53285 trilochans@iimb.ernet.in

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