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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Aid pours in for Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party on debut -Jayashree Nandi & Prerna Sodhi

Aid pours in for Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party on debut -Jayashree Nandi & Prerna Sodhi

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published Published on Nov 27, 2012   modified Modified on Nov 27, 2012
-The Times of India

After over a year of campaigning, dozens of protests and exposes against ministers, Arvind Kejriwal officially entered the political arena on Monday. Negating the perception that only big parties can draw hefty funds, the newly launched Aam Aadmi Party collected more than 1.10 crore on the day of the launch, with former law minister Shanti Bhushan alone donating Rs 1 crore.

Day one also saw supporters pitching in to keep the machinery running with collection of over Rs 1.6 lakh. Besides, many people across the country requested Team Kejriwal to open party offices in their states.

"Rahul from Toronto has offered space owned by him to open a party office. A similar request was made by a farmer in Odisha, who is ready to give up a considerable chunk of land so that we can open a party office," a member of the party said. Party leaders said they had received at least 300 requests from various parts of the country asking them to open offices on land owned by them.

Kejriwal promised to take on established parties like the Congress and BJP. Now, the fight will be between the "common man and the netas", Kejriwal told the crowd of around 2,000 people from various states.

"We are here to destabilize the corrupt government and take back power. Now netas will on one side and the aam aadmi on the other. Netas will be thrown out soon and the common man will sit in Parliament," he said.

Kejriwal also mocked the current state of politics saying he had Congressmen come and give him proof against their own men. "After the Cabinet reshuffle, a new minister from Congress called me to say I was doing a good job. He also said I shouldn't let Robert Vadra escape. Imagine the condition of these parties," he added.

Reading out from the constitution, Kejriwal underlined the tenets of his party. He said it was time the rules of the game changed. "Now netas and bureaucrats have to report to people. The constitution gives prime importance to the people of India and that should be implemented," he added. He called the people 'first class citizens' who are victims of 'third class governance'.

A feisty Kejriwal also threw in some economics about inflation into his speech, which appealed to the gathering. "People think inflation happens on its own. Very few know that inflation is a result of corruption. Gas rates are so high because the government gave away natural gas reserves to Reliance. When Reliance doubled the rates of gas, the government should have cancelled their licence," he added.

Kejriwal claimed the government waived taxes worth Rs 5 lakh crore every year on various companies but did not reduce the tax burden on common man. "If the taxes are reduced, the price of petrol would come down to Rs 50 and diesel to Rs 40." He also brought up pet issues like nursery admissions for which people pay up to Rs 50,000 as donation and the sky rocketing rates in 'five star hospitals.'

Kejriwal also spoke of the plight of farmers - sugarcane farmers who are getting a low price for their crop because of alleged involvement of ministers who own sugar mills in Maharashtra. He quoted a Swaminathan report that shows that paddy farmers are paid far less for their crop than they spend on production.

Apart from Kejriwal, one of the key speakers on Monday to strike a chord with the people was ex-NSG commando Surender Singh. He drew people's attention to the symbolism of the date '26/11.' Surender said that while on the same day in 1949, the Indian constitution was enacted, ironically it's also the day when India faced a massive terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2009.

"Today is also 26/11. It's a very important date and is symbolic of India's journey. I am glad that the AAP is being launched on this date," he said.

Surender is hearing impaired from a hand grenade explosion during the operation. He again accused the government of misuse of funds and demanded an audit of the donations received by the government for the welfare of soldiers.

Wooing people toward his 'anti-corruption' party, Kejriwal spelt out four vows for his party. "We vow that we will neither give nor accept bribes. We vow to get voter identity cards made and go and cast our vote. We vow to not take money, alcohol or any other form of bribe to cast our vote. And we vow not to cast our vote based on caste or religion." The crowd repeated the vows after him. He also vowed to send corrupt ministers to jail within six months of his party being voted to power. He said Jan Lokpal will be passed in Parliament within 15 days of the AAP coming to power.

The party has appointed an internal Lokpal that will investigate graft charges against party workers. The party named 23 members in its national executive, including Manish Sisodia and lawyer Prashant Bhushan. Kejriwal will be the national convener, Pankaj Gupta the national secretary and Krishna Kanth the national treasurer, it was announced.

The Times of India, 27 November, 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Aid-pours-in-for-Kejriwals-Aam-Aadmi-Party-on-debut/articleshow/17380119.cms


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