Indiens førende korruptionsbekæmper står bag og siger, at det nye parti vil ændre politikken for altid i verdens største demokrati – går ind for uafhængig ombudsmand, som kan grave i politikeres og embedsmænds omgang med offentlige midler.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – or Common Man Party – was formally launched by India´s leading anti-corruption campaigner, Arvind Kejriwal, and thousands of his supporters in Delhi on Monday.
Mr Kejriwal says his new party will change India’s politics and he has pledged to contest next year’s assembly elections in Delhi and the next general elections due in 2014.
The Aam Aadmi Party will fight against the culture of “bribe-taking” (bestikkelse), Mr Kejriwal says and “would never compromise on corruption, democracy and nepotism”.
The new party aims to tap into public anger against several high-profile corruption scandals which have come to light in the last few months.
A former bureaucrat, Mr Kejriwal won the Ramon Magsaysay award in 2006 for social work and initiatives to fight corruption.
Two years ago, the 44-year-old set up a group called India Against Corruption aimed at putting pressure on the government to bring about tough anti-corruption laws.
The movement was led by anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare through a series of hunger strikes and protests.
But the two campaigners parted ways over Mr Kejriwal’s plans to enter politics. Both are demanding the appointment of an independent ombudsman to prosecute politicians and civil servants suspected of corruption.
The idea was passed by the lower house of parliament in the form of the Lokpal bill in December 2011, but not passed by the upper house.
