Kejriwal launches the Aam Aadmi Party

Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday launched his party, the Aam Aadmi Party, aiming to provide gram sabhas more say in the law-making process and making the higher judiciary accessible to the common man.

Minutes after the announcement of the party’s name, apparently taking a dig at the Congress slogan, “Congress ka haath aam aadmi ke sath”, he tweeted the Congress had lost the “aam aadmi” on Saturday.

His party also designated 320 people as its founding members to constitute the national council, which elected 23 members, including Kejriwal Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, to the national executive, the core decision-making body.

Addressing a press conference after a day-long meeting with founding members, which finalised the constitution of the party, Kejriwal said the party’s national council would be expanded by bringing one member from every district committee, while the national executive would have up to 35 members.

The party’s Constitution, which envisages establishment of swaraj (self rule) in the country, was also adopted on Saturday. Kejriwal said the vision document approved by the national council of the party on Saturday asks for creating governance structures that would be accountable to the people rather than the bureaucracy and political leaders.

The vision document demanded provision for making laws through both referendum and ‘initiative’ — when the public wanted changes in a law, the former would be used; and when it wanted a new law, they could initiate the process, Kejriwal said.

The document also asks for making justice a democratic right of citizens by making litigation affordable to the poorest of the poor.

Kejriwal said another document dealing with issues like agriculture, education and health formed a dynamic document that would be based on further discussions.

The party would have ordinary members who could join for three years by paying a fee of Rs 10 and active members who would have voting rights. The latter would be selected from among workers who had dedicated four months of work for the party, he said.