A third of the 700-plus people who applied for a party ticket have either worked with traditional parties in various capacities or have one of their family members associated with them.

Dr Aannapurna Mishra, a veteran Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and sitting councilor is facing what may be the toughest battle of her political career. Early in June, her son, Kapil, declared his intent to enter politics not as a BJP candidate, but as a member of the six-month old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Thirty two-year old Kapil, who holds a Masters degree in Social Work, is one of the contenders for the AAP ticket from North East Delhi’s Karawal Nagar assembly constituency. The decision has been unpopular with his well wishers who view the move as a political mistake.

“I would be lying if I say there is no pressure from them (BJP) to withdraw my name. I never held any post or position in the BJP, but my family has been loyal to the party. It obviously gives a negative message when a member of such a family goes to another political party,” he says.

Kapil is not the only AAP ticket aspirant to have abandoned his political affiliation with traditional political parties to opt for AAP. A third of the 700-plus people who applied for a party ticket have either worked with traditional parties in various capacities or have one of their family members associated with them. The list includes those who were with national parties as well as regional parties like the Samajwadi Party and Loksatta Party.

Moreover, out of the 20 candidates declared by AAP so far, four are former Congress and BJP loyalists.

In Kapil's case, his personal experience of seeing the inner workings of a conventional political party up close convinced him to choose AAP. “I asked my mother will the BJP reduce corruption even by 50 per cent if it is elected to power. She remained silent. I got my answer. And she understood why was I opting for AAP,” he says.

He is using the same argument to now reach out to the electorate. “Bhai saab, the equation is simple. Contractors and mafia fund these parties and that is why these parties work for their cause and not for you- the aam janta. I am telling you on your face. I want your money to campaign and to win, I want your vote too. Now you decide,” he declares, confronting one voter.

Gulab Singh, on the other hand, was tired of the infighting within the saffron party. In 2012, within a year of joining the BJP ward level committee, he participated in the municipality election campaign. Singh says it offered a ‘trailer’ of all that's wrong with traditional electoral politics. “A senior BJP leader told us that we have to ensure the defeat of one of our [own] local leaders. We had no option but to do it,” said Singh, who is now the AAP candidate from Outer Delhi’s Matiala assembly seat.

These candidates believe AAP offers a number of advantages that could help them win on election day, including the clean image of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, his association with the Jan Lokal movement, and the party’s non- traditional style of politics.

“In all my public meetings, I talk about the work I did during aandolan (Jan Lokpal) at Jantar Mantar,” says Singh.

In April, AAP started inviting applications from those who were interested in contesting Delhi assembly poll on its ticket. For every assembly seat, the party prepared a shortlist of candidates. The shortlisted candidates then are further vetted by debates and public feedback and voted on by volunteers to determine the final choice. So far, the party has released shortlists for 37 assembly seats, and finalised candidates for 20 seats. Arvind Kejriwal will contest from the New Delhi seat which is subjected to change, AAP has said, depending on seat from which the chief minister will fight. Party leaders Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai and Shazia Ilmi will contest from Patparganj, Babarpur and Greater Kailash seats respectively.

AAP members said that mere affiliation with a traditional political party is not a criterion that determines who gets a ticket. “It works both the ways. If someone has worked with a political party for good amount of time, then he brings in with him, his experience and even voters in some cases. But if the person has a negative image in his locality and within the party, then he can become a liability for us,” said AAP member Dilip Pandey.

Forty-two year old Gajanand Verma worked as a Congress foot soldier for a great part of his life. Disenchanted with the high command culture in Congress party, Verma, who runs a fiber glass imports business, will now represent AAP from the Bawana seat. Top leadership unilaterally made all the critical decisions and there was no respect for workers like him, he says. “In AAP, there is a sense of belonging. Party structure is participatory. I feel like I am working with the party and not for the party.”

Verma argues that Congress party members are lackadaisical and used to the status quo, uninterested in bringing about any real change. “Delhi state government is assured that whether it performs its duties or not, people have no option but to once again elect it power. That is why the condition of certain areas has remained unchanged for years,” he says.

Although positive about chances of winning the assembly poll, he is practical about the prospects of a new political party in the Delhi elections which has traditionally been a two-way fight between Congress and BJP. “Nobody fights to lose. Winning is important. But more important is the fact that we have set example for traditional political parties to follow. Otherwise, none was talking about transparency in candidates’ selection procedure and selection of honest candidates,” he says.

Political parties are, however, dismissive about the loss of disaffected members. “Every political party has people who don’t work and want important positions in the party for doing nothing. They must have claimed that they were with the Congress, but I have never heard these names,” says Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee vice president SK Puri, referring to Verma.