Will announce Bengal candidates soon: AAP

Asserting that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will field eight to 10 candidates from West Bengal for the Lok Sabha polls, party leader Pankaj Gupta Sunday expressed regret over social activist Anna Hazare endorsing Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress.

"It is sad to see Anna Hazare endorsing Mamata Banerjee and campaigning for Trinamool, when it is the AAP which is carrying forward the fight against corruption. However, all the AAP leaders including Arvind Kejriwal have a deep respect for Anna," he said here.

Gupta, a party general secretary, held daylong meetings with party volunteers and members on the party's electoral strategies for Bengal.

"Discussions are on and we soon will be finalizing our candidate list for Bengal. We hope to contest at least 8-10 seats from the state. Once the modalities are finished, we will duly announce," he said, adding that like elsewhere in the country, the AAP will not go for an alliance with any political party in the state.

The AAP will not field celebrities as candidates unlike the Trinamool or the Bharatiya Janata Party, he said, adding it would rather focus primarily on the issues of corruption and swaraj in the state.

Talking about Saturday's incident when party ideologue Yogendra Yadav's face was smeared with ink by a man, Gupta said it was a consequence of the party's relentless efforts to unearth corruption.

"People apprehensive of AAP's efforts to fight corruption are steadily resorting to such activities in their bid to deter us. But our fight against corruption will continue," said Gupta adding that Kejriwal was likely to visit Kolkata in April.