NEW DELHI: With ambitious plans of systemic change while outfitting themselves as an alternative to "corrupt" political establishment, Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan on Saturday launched themselves as a political party, calling it the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Although unveiled in the modest setting of a press conference, the AAP aims high, promising empowerment of the common man, decentralization of power, law-making through referendum, devolution of decision-making powers to gram sabha and an accessible judicial system.
Pitching the party as the platform for aam aadmi, Kejriwal said that there will be men and women representatives from the village or college level up to the national level.
The constitution that was adopted on Saturday betrayed a conscious effort to address the concern of Anna Hazare and others that the transformation of the anti-graft movement into a political party would lead the activists to make compromises for survival's sake. Thus, as part of a lengthy list of do's and don'ts, the party has decided to have an internal Lokpal, provision for right to recall and for denial of posts and tickets to more than one in a family. The party will also make its donor and expense list public.
The AAP, which plans to make its maiden electoral foray in next year's Delhi polls, is moving with urgency. On Monday, the activists are launching a membership drive inviting all "aam aadmis" to join the new party as "founding members''. An event has been planned at Jantar Mantar, the landmark that has been an integral part of the anti-graft stirs, for what will be the first instance of a political platform soliciting membership in public.
It was in the fitness of things that launch of the party of the activists who have been a gadfly for the political establishment should spark a controversy right at the outset. Congress accused them of Intellectual Property Rights theft, saying that the AAP was a rip off on their "aam aadmi" platform.
This was just before Kejriwal and Bhushan have mocked their "aam credentials" by parodying Congress's "aam aadmi ka haath Congress ke saath (common man is for Congress)" claim. "Congress ka aadmi Robert Vadra ke saath", snickered Sanjay Singh of AAP, in a reminder that the just-launched party will keep targeting political parties for corruption.
On the criticism from Congress, Kejriwal said, ``They are just rattled....Congress could never hijack the aam aadmi despite using the term ``aam aadmi''. Now they have lost the word too.''
The launch of the party came after a day-long meeting of over 300 people during which its constitution was adopted and a 23-member national executive elected. The party's first electoral battle will be Delhi but it appeared to be woefully short of representations from the south and eastern India as of now. The executive has so far only two women members. Admitting to the gender imbalance Kejriwal said that they hoped to bring in more people to make the national executive more representative of women, youth, minorities and diverse sections.
Incidentally, names of former Army chief V K Singh and other eminent people who had urged Team Anna to take a political plunge were missing from the list of supporters. When asked about their absence Bhushan said, ``It is true that there were several eminent people who felt that participating in electoral politics was the only way forward. However, one does not have to be a member of the party to support it.''
Both Kejriwal and Bhushan underlined the fact that winning an election was not their focus but establishing an alternative political system and challenging the way politics was being practiced. As usual political parties were at their receiving end.
AAP's formation came after a bitter split with Hazare over the issue of the anti-corruption movement taking a political plunge as desired by Kejriwal. Both Hazare and Kejriwal announced parting of ways on September 19 following differences over forming a party with the former sticking to his position that the movement should remain apolitical.
On October 2, Kejriwal had announced the formation of the party saying its official launch will be on November 26 to coincide with day the country's Constitution was adopted in 1949.
Kejriwal names party after aam admi, mocks Congress
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Kejriwal names party after aam admi, mocks Congress
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Kejriwal names party after aam admi, mocks Congress
