3-member panel to draft AAP's manifesto by mid-Jan

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi has formed a three-member committee for drafting its manifesto to be released between January 15 and January 20 for the February 8 Assembly elections.

Speaking to the media, AAP Delhi Convenor Gopal Rai said the party's manifesto will focus on the issues related to the common man.

He said the party will list the new works, which it is planning to do in the next five years.

The three-member committee includes AAP Lok Sabha candidate Atishi as the chairperson and party leaders Ajoy Kumar and Jasmine Shah as members.

"They will compile all the suggestions for the manifesto. We are expecting to release it between January 15 and January 20," Rai said.

He said the party has gathered a lot of suggestions for the manifesto from the Town Hall meetings, door-to-door campaigns and public meetings.

Among the top suggestions, there is the demand for improvement in cleanliness in the city, which is otherwise the duty of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

"BJP has been in power in the MCD for the last 15 years. But people are unhappy with the waste management. People are demanding that we should take some steps," Rai said.

He said the party is focusing on the issues being faced by the common man.

While Atishi is Oxford-educated and has played an important role in the government's reforms in the education sector, Ajoy Kumar is a former Lok Sabha MP and an ex-IPS officer.

Jasmine Shah, an alumnus of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and also a Nehru Fulbright Scholar, has a decade of experience of working with urban governance and policy issues.

He has been advising the Delhi Government since 2016 on budgetary and transport policy reforms.

He is also the vice chairperson of the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi -- an advisory body of the AAP government.

The 70-member Delhi Assembly will go to the polls on February 8, while the counting of votes will take place on February 11. In 2015, AAP swept the polls by bagging 67 seats.IANS