AAP plans to rope in Nana Patekar in Maharashtra

Speculation is rife in political circles that the Aam Aadmi Party might rope in veteran actor Nana Patekar for restructuring its Maharashtra unit and to reach out to the maximum number of people in the saffron-led state.

Mr Patekar has become a real-life hero for helping debt-ridden farmers in the drought-hit areas of Maharashtra. He has also launched an NGO, Naam Foundation, with Marathi actor Makarand Anaspure to work for the betterment of farmers in the drought-hit areas of Marathwada and Vidarbha.

There are also rumours that the AAP is considering India’s celebrated TV news anchor Rajdeep Sardesai as its chief ministerial candidate in next year’s Goa Assembly elections. The third name doing the rounds for AAP’s chief ministerial candidate for Gujarat is of former BJP legislator Kanu Kalsariya, a gynaecologist, who joined the party in January 2014.

After Punjab, the AAP is zeroing in on Goa, where the party is all set to contest all the 40 Assembly seats during the forthcoming state polls next year. The AAP’s spin doctors feel that the party has developed a considerable support base among the 26 per cent Christian population of Goa.

As for Mr Sardesai, his presence at a recent AAP rally in Panaji along with his journalist wife, fuelled speculation that the 51-year-old journalist was going to be the party’s CM candidate. While Mr Desai is said to have denied joining the AAP, he was quoted by a newspaper as saying, “If the people of Goa ask me to become the CM of the state, I’m ready for it.”

Though born in Gujarat and brought up in Maharashtra, Mr Sardesai often says he is and has always been a Goan by heart.

The AAP, which is all set to contest all the 110 Assembly seats in Punjab, has also started making noises in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state. In Gujarat, the AAP intends to highlight the “failures” of the BJP governments both in the state and at the Centre in the state elections, slated for next year.