Arun Bhatia seeks support for Lok Sabha ticket

PUNE: Retired bureaucrat and former Pune Municipal Commissioner Arun Bhatia on Monday took to his Facebook page to seek support from Puneites for his Lok Sabha candidature.
Bhatia had applied for the seat with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on January 13.
"I have filled the form for a ticket from AAP. The last column in the application form asks for 600 voters to propose my name.I wrote that I had received 30,000 votes, so 600 signatures were presumed to be not necessary. However, I would like to request friends and supporters to send me a letter stating that you propose me for the Pune LS seat," Bhatia wrote.
Anjali Damania, convener of AAP-Maharashtra told TOI that no final decision has been taken for the Pune LS seat. "We are in the process of screening candidates. The entire process is likely to be completed soon."
Bhatia had also contested the 2004 and 2009 elections.
Speaking to TOI, Bhatia said, "The voters in Pune are aware of my track record in fighting corruption, and their vote for honesty will not be wasted. The time is ripe for them to feel that the vote for honesty given to individuals will not be wasted.
Many did not vote for me in the last two elections because they felt I could not win against the big parties. About 65% of the population is middle class and if they are motivated to vote, the slum vote purchased by big parties will be neutralized."