Kejriwal's resignation will increase AAP support base: Ilmi

Justifying Arvind Kejriwal's resignation as Delhi chief minister, AAP leader Shazia Ilmi Saturday said the decision will only increase the party's support base.

Ilmi, a member of the Aam Aadmi Party's national executive, praised West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition Left Front for having the least number of millionaires in their folds, but ruled out the AAP's alliance with any party.

"He (Kejriwal) is not an escapist, rather a brave man who kept his word. People haven't heard any chief minister taking a stand like this. People will realise AAP's sincerity and the purposefulness.

"Our support base will only go up because people have realised that people in AAP are serious, they are not for power," Ilmi told media persons here.

Forty-nine days after he took charge of a minority government, Kejriwal resigned Friday following a tumultuous day in the assembly where the Congress and BJP legislators defeated the AAP's attempts to introduce the Jan Lokpal bill aimed to curb corruption in high places.

Ilmi kicked off a "Jhadu Chalao Yatra" here, as part of the party's nationwide anti-corruption drive which began Saturday and will continue till Feb 23 involving over 330 constituencies in 24 states.

The journalist-turned-politician said the AAP's fight was not against individuals, rather against the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which have joined industrialists to form a "club" running the country.

Praising the Trinamool and the Left Front, she said: "The good thing about Bengal is, be it the Trinamool or the Left Front, they have the least number of crorepati MPs or MLAs, which itself says a lot. Corruption here is less.

"We are not opposing Mamata Banerjee or even the Left which had supported bringing political parties under the RTI (Right to Information). The fight is a larger one, it is not about individuals whether Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi or Mamata Banerjee. It is about the common man," she said.

Asked if the AAP was looking for allies, she said: "We will not go for any alliance with any political party."

"Our fight is against the combined might of the Congress and the BJP which in association with some industrialists, has formed a club and is running the country. Our fight is against corruption, our fight is for Jan Lokpal," she said.