Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Rajmohan Gandhi joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) saying the party has a strong link to the Gandhian ideology.
He is most likely to contest the upcoming LS elections. He said the Congress used to be an aam aadmi’s party some 30-40 years back, but now it is a party of khas aadmi (important people) while the BJP is a party of rich people so it is the AAP which truly represents the common man.
Rajmohan, 78, is the new entrant to the AAP after many famous people, including Adarsh Shastri, grandson of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and son of Congress leader Anil Shastri have joined the party in last few months.
Earlier, he had contested against former PM Rajiv Gandhi from Amethi in 1989 on a Janata Dal ticket and had lost. He is a visiting professor at various Indian and American universities and has written many books on history. On why he wants to join the AAP, Rajmohan said: “This is a party that has emerged from the India’s soil. It is a people’s party above all. Secondly, it is a party that is fearlessly opposing corruption and these are most compelling reasons to me.”
Gandhi, son of Devdas Gandhi and maternal grandson of C Rajagopalchari, said so many people have been drawn to the AAP as they have felt some kind of hope from it. “I have also felt that there is something fresh... there is something, something with its focus on grassroots politics, with its focus against corruption. So I am quite drawn to it,” he said.
He parried questions on if he would be contesting against BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi.