Arvind Kejriwal
3 October 2012. Prominent anti-corruption campaigner Arvind Kejriwal launched a new political party on Tuesday, aiming to tap into a rich seam of public anger against the graft-tainted government. He unveiled the yet-unnamed party on the anniversary of the birth of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Imposing poster of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri was in the backdrop of the dais from which he made the announcement. The trademark “I am Anna” caps had a new slogan : I am Aam Aadmi (I am the common man.) The change in terminology is crucial because it comes just a day after Anna announced lending support to Kejriwal’s candidature as a politician despite being against Kejriwal’s decision to join politics previously. Kejriwal said they will announce the party’s name on 26 November 2012, the day on which in 1949 the Constitution was adopted. “We derive lessons from Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings. We are determined to clean up the entire political spectrum. Our candidates will be committed to honesty and transparency and they will fight elections,” Kejriwal added. “From today, people are entering politics. Corrupt leaders, count your days…All the parties have cheated us. We will not now request, we will not plead. Now it is a full-throttle political battle,” he said. He said the budgets should be made in streets and bylanes and not in Parliament and mentioned about a Brazilian town which has adopted this method. “All parties are corrupt…Our party will change the system and not just the faces in Parliament”, he said. He also said, “Start counting your days all you corrupt people.” “There is no opposition. All parties are in power. We will have to clean the Assemblies and Parliament. This is the time. If we delay it, the country will be sold in five years,” he said. Anna Hazare has parted ways with Kejriwal over his plans to enter politics, which he described as “full of dirt”. In reference to this remarks, activist Sanjay Singh said the politics done by Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Jyoti Basu, E M S Namboordiripad, or Raj Narain were not so. “Politics is not always full of dirt. It is being made so,” he said. Kejriwal told AFP that his group would continue to “seek Hazare’s blessings” despite the rift.
