Kolkata gears up for AAP rally

KOLKATA: The city is catching the AAP fever. Young men are all eyes for the Aam Aadmi Party rally - 'Chetna Yatra' - from College Square to Esplanade on Sunday when veterans are busy discussing the prospects of such a party in Bengal beyond the metro confines.
Sensing the mood among the young who want a break from corruption affecting the mainstream parties in Bengal, Aam Aadmi Party activists have called this 'yatra' to see how the city responds to the new phenomenon.Yet, AAP volunteers prefer to avoid limelight out of insecurity. "We are not sure how the mainstream parties will react to our programme. It is better to carry out our activities silently," the AAP volunteer Vikas Vyas said.
Vyas is no politician. A professional, Vyas is among those who went to Delhi during the India Against Corruption agitation. "Soon after returning from Delhi, we sat together and started our activities. We got huge response during the Howrah parliamentary bypolls when we campaigned for the right to record dissent to candidates in the fray. We are in touch with our sympathizers and hope they will turn up at College Square on Sunday," said Vyas.
The party in a nebulous form in Bengal doesn't bank on the central leaders. "Leaders such as Arvind Kejriwal or others won't be coming to the Kolkata rally. As of now, we have an ad hoc committee at the central level. Leaders will be overseeing party activities in states other than Delhi from January, on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls. Our leaders have given us the go ahead for the rally on Sunday. We have also got police permission for the rally," the AAP volunteer said. The rally is being held among others in solidarity to the Jan Lokpal Bill for which Anna Hazare has staged a fast.
New in this venture, AAP volunteers are not looking at a massive organized showdown that the city is used to. Unlike demonstration by mainstream parties, the rally is likely to be bereft of cut outs of leaders, party flags that the city is used to. AAP also parts ways with mainstream parties in organizing the rally. Kolkata Police, used to the conventional format, prefers to keep the rally on a low key. "We have given them temporary permission. No flags or cut outs will be allowed because the party is not registered in Kolkata," a police officer said.
AAP volunteers are not going into a confrontation with the administration. "We have a facebook page and have already sent out the message to our supporters. We are also using SMS to reach out to people in the districts," the AAP volunteer said. The rally on Sunday could be litmus test of how Kolkata netizens react to the new mode.
What is the message? It says: "The system is rotten. It is time to sweep the rot away. Attend our rally on December 15 at 2pm from College Square." The slogan is not new for Bengal that has had a taste of radical politics during the Naxal movement in the Seventies.
However, a cursory look at the falling voting percentage in 11 Assembly segments in Bengal could be an indicator to the rising resentment among voters though the exercising of the right - not to vote - under section 49(O) of Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, is still negligible. The voting percentage in city constituencies namely Chowringhee, Rashbehari, Bhowanipore, Ballygunge ranged between 54 and 68.2% per cent when the state's average polling stood at 84.64% per cent in the 2011 Assembly elections that recorded an impressive turnout.