Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi's new chief minister and leader of Aam Aadmi Party, has launched nation-wide free membership drive under 'Main bhi aam aadmi' campaign, with an aim to add at least one crore members into the party by January 26. The move is crucial to strengthen the party’s foothold, given the fact that only four months are left for the Lok Sabha elections 2014.
"Anyone from the country can become an AAP member...With the launch of this free membership drive, our target is to reach at least one crore members by 26 January," Kejriwal said at a press conference.
Earlier, there was a fee of Rs 10 to enroll as a member of the party, which now has been waived off as many people could not afford it. “The decision to waive off the membership fee was taken at the national executive meeting last week," he said.
Anyone can enroll as a member of the party by sending their details including their Lok Sabha constituency or just giving a missed call on a mobile number 07798220033, he said, adding that the party will get in touch with them at the earliest. However, only one member can register per mobile number. Moreover, whoever wants to become an AAP member can also register for free via the party's website.
Meanwhile, Gopal Rai, who has been given the task to oversee the membership drive, said the more than 3 lakh people have registered as a party members through the website, after the Delhi elections held in last month.
Also, Kejriwal confirmed the joining of social activist Medha Patkar and senior television journalist Ashutosh. “Ashutosh is joining AAP in a couple days most probably."
Further, when asked about the leaders from various fields joining AAP, he added that the party will see the credentials of the person before giving them any leadership role in the party.
Media reports recently said that R Gopinath, better known as Captain Gopinath who started Air Deccan, has joined AAP, just a few days after former Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan joined the party. Other corporate executives who recently joined AAP include Meera Sanyal and Adarsh Shastri, the grandson of former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri who quit his job at Apple.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
