Mumbai:
Raj Kumar and Pankaj Gupta have just got their hands on the Aam Aadmi Party's topi and a few stickers. Both of them, auto rickshaw drivers from Ghatkopar in eastern Mumbai, just registered as members of the party.
Mr Gupta, a native of Gorakhpur living in Mumbai since a decade says, "Congress and BJP have been ruling our country since years. But in the last one year the Aam Aadmi Party has stood up against corruption. I too want to be part of this fight against corruption."
Mr Gupta, another auto driver, hopes like Delhi, the AAP magic will work in Mumbai. And that is why, he says, it makes sense to join a party that's "aam" (common) like him.
"Delhi is the country's capital, the AAP have profited there in the elections. So they will surely do well here," he said.
Like these two, many others have been queuing up at the AAP office to get a membership of the party. The surge is triggered by the spectacular win of the party in Delhi.
Unlike the swanky South Mumbai offices of established political parties, AAP operates deep in suburban Mumbai's Andheri, flanked by corporate offices and middle class homes.
On the second floor of a corner side commercial building is the AAP office - a small cramped space that functions as the Maharashtra and Mumbai HQ of the party. The volunteers are interns who have come here from across India; they work on borrowed computers, while some have their own laptops. There are not enough chairs for all volunteers to sit, so some of the members simply occupy the stairs of the building. These are dedicated people who decided to associate themselves with AAP to make a difference.
Like 20-year-old Rajan Baa, a tribal student studying in Chennai, who has come to help and learn from the AAP. He aspires to be a political leader someday.
On a month-long college break, Rajan is helping to prepare the party prepare groundwork in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha elections next year.
"I am online 24 hours doing all kinds of work and research. Like yesterday I called up the entire district where I collected information on all Convenors as we are preparing for upcoming Maharashtra Elections," he said.
The party has put him in a flat that he shares with others just above the office.
Working alongside him is retired professional Satish Naik. It was the feeling of being disempowered, he says, that led him to join Anna and then AAP.
"Does this country have a government? I used to question in frustration. I joined Anna Hazare's movement and learnt that the governance I deserved and did not get for 58 years of my life. I would work for the remainder of my life for it", said Mr Naik smiling.
Though the spectacular Delhi results have galvanised AAP's cadre, Mumbai is not Delhi.
At the height of Anna's agitation for the Lokpal Bill in 2011, the poor turnout at rallies here had forced them to cut it short. AAP though is not allowing that to cramp their plans for Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra for 2014.
Mayank Gandhi, a leading member of AAP in Mumbai, believes that Maharashtra too will respond to AAP's calls for change. "The need for honest and ethical politics is not just in Delhi but across the country especially in Maharashtra because it's such a corrupt state. For Lok Sabha we intend to put up candidates in every constituency in Maharashtra," said Mr Gandhi.
And what about the AAP's plans for Maharashtra Assembly elections? "It's too premature right now," he said.