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Expelled Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, who had floated Swaraj India, an outfit for campaigning on “public issues”, on Sunday formally announced their foray into electoral politics by launching a new all-India political party, Swaraj India.
The Swaraj Abhiyan leaders, who announced the party’s name here on Sunday, said Swaraj India would be the “only party to voluntarily bring itself under RTI Act.”
On July 31, Yadav and Bhushan had announced the launch of a political party as an “alternative political vehicle” and said its name would be announced on October 2. Swaraj Abhiyan had set up a six-member committee, headed by Ajit Jha, to finalise the modalities.
The new party’s launch on Sunday was announced after a ‘founding convention’ of the Swaraj Abhiyan, where over 400 delegates from almost all States participated.
The new party stated that its mission would be to usher in “probity, transparency and accountability in electoral politics”. Yadav was unanimously elected as the party’s first national president and Jha as its first national general secretary. Anand Kumar will be a mentor and advisor to Swaraj India.
A senior lawyer, Bhushan was elected the new national president of Swaraj Abhiyan, which would continue to work on “public issues”.
Bhushan and Yadav said the need for a party arose as “the founding values of our republic -- democracy, diversity and dialogue – are under attack.”
In an apparent dig at AAP, Swaraj India said it had decided that “there will be freedom of expression within the party at all levels and dissent will be accorded respect and space.”
“At a time when political parties are afflicted by the malaise of personality cult and centralisation of power”, it said Swaraj India shall be governed “collective leadership” through an organisational “presidium” model as its highest decision-making body.
It may be recalled that the Yadav-Bhushan duo along with Kumar and Jha were expelled by AAP for “gross indiscipline and anti-party activities ” in April 2015, after they accused AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal of “authoritarianism”, among other things.
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