Raj IT engineer with political dreams aspires to clean system

40-year-old Rashid Hussain is leading Welfare Party of India as its state president

With Rajasthan gearing up for Assembly polls slated for December 1, an IT professional is trying hard to create a space for himself in the political arena for "cleaning the system from inside".

Rashid Hussain was linked with the 2008 Jaipur serial blasts and kept in detention for eight days, before being giving a clean chit. However, the incident affected his professional life, leading him to enter politics to treat the "paralysed system".

40-year-old Hussain is leading Welfare Party of India as its state president.

"What happened with me was due to our system. Not only me, there are a large number of innocent people who are framed but they cannot raise their voices. The system is paralysed and politics is a way to treat it effectively," he said.

Born in Gaya and brought up in Patna, Hussain said he was well-settled and happy with his career when he was shifted to Jaipur from Banglore on an assignment, but the blasts changed his life.

"I, along with some friends, had set up a relief camp outside SMS hospital on the day after the blast and worked for almost ten days. But later, I was picked up by SOG who kept me in detention as a suspect having links with terrorist," he told PTI here.

"Though I was given a clean chit, I suffered great loss. I lost my job and reputation. It was a tragic turn for me but I decided to fight so that one is not branded a terrorist just because of any religion," he said.

The IT engineer says this incident, his interest since college days to join politics and the Anna Hazare movement persuaded him to enter politics to "clean the system".