Ahead of the assembly polls in Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced three more candidates by releasing its 10th list on Sunday, January 16. Joginder Singh Mann, a former MLA who switched from the Congress to AAP yesterday, has been fielded from the Phagwara seat.
A leader from the Scheduled Caste community, Mr Mann was upset with the Congress over alleged inaction against those behind a scholarship scam and a long-pending demand to make Phagwara a district.
Eyeing polls, the party had revealed an unusual solution this week, asking voters to dial 7074870748 to name their choice. Voters have till Monday to send in their response.
The announcement comes hours after AAP today earlier in the day alleged that in order to put a dent in the vote-share of the party, the Election Commission has allowed reduction in the 'Public Notice Period' for registering a political party from 30 days to 7 days.
"AAP had recently exposed how the Election Commission was preparing to amend its rules to facilitate the formation of a special party. Despite the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct, this political party is forcefully being registered during the middle of the polls. We cautioned everyone that they are going a step ahead to change their defined set of laws that say that a party must give a thirty-day notice period prior to the registration," AAP Punjab Co-Incharge and MLA Raghav Chadha said in a virtual conference.
A circular issued by the Election Commission on January 14 confirms all the cautions raised by AAP. The circular in clear words states that it has made a special exception to get a particular group registered as a Political Party by reducing the 'Public Notice Period' from 30 days to 7 days. The reason cited behind this blunder is the pandemic. The EC argues that the group's facing problems in the registration process because of Corona. Thus it is doing this special favour for them, he further said.
