Lok Sabha elections: Aam Aadmi Party headquarters 'shifts' to Varanasi, Amethi

NEW DELHI: Till last Thursday, 10 Hanuman Road was bustling with activity. Hundreds of people were thronging the Aam Aadmi Party headquarters from where key electoral strategies were being planned and executed. Today, it lies almost deserted.
By the end of this week, most volunteers and senior party members, including Delhi MLAs, will be shifting base to Varanasi and Amethi. In Varanasi, party chief Arvind Kejriwal will be facing BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi while in Amethi, it is a three-cornered fight between Kumar Vishwas, Rahul Gandhi and BJP spokesperson Smriti Irani.

Gopal Mohan, who handled Kejriwal's campaign in New Delhi during assembly polls, is also looking after his Varanasi campaign. Kejriwal's trusted aide and Patparganj MLA Manish Sisodia, Delhi secretary Dilip Pandey, Durgesh Pathak, Gulab Singh and Kapil Mishra have been made in-charge of the five constituencies that make up the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat. Karan Singh, who handled the volunteer recruitment programme in Delhi, is interacting with volunteers in Varanasi while the national secretary, Pankaj Gupta, has been made in charge of logistics.

Former health minister Satyender Jain, who supervised Chandni Chowk candidate Ashutosh's campaign in the Lok Sabha election, has been asked to oversee the election campaign for Vishwas. He will be helped out by GK MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj.

"We are expecting around 20,000 volunteers from across the country to move to these two areas once elections in their respective regions end. Delhi MLAs too will be dividing their time between the two seats and should be there for four to five days," said AAP sources.