The 2014 elections will see a new party dabbling into the State politics. The Welfare Party of India (WPI), an offshoot of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, has decided to jump into the rough and tumble of politics. The WPI proposes to contest both Assembly and Parliament seats from all the three regions of the State.
The WPI, which believes in value based politics, is not averse to joining hands with other parties. But it wants to emerge on its own strength. “We will not contest all the seats but will field candidates where we are strong,” Malik Moatasim Khan, president, WPI, A.P. chapter, told presspersons here on Monday.
The party had completed membership drive in 20 districts, enrolling 5,000 to 7,000 members in each district. It has claimed to have a presence in Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Nellore (Andhra), Kurnool, Proaddatur (Rayalaseema), Karimnagar, Nizambad, Bodhan , Mahabubnagar and a few pockets in Hyderabad. The WPI, which has contested the just held elections in Karnataka, plans to take part in the local body elections in A.P.
The WPI State chapter will be formally launched on May 26 with a State conference at the Nizam College ground. Party’s national president, Mujtaba Farooq, would spell out the agenda and roadmap of the party at the conference. “We are entering politics not to capture power but to cleanse it of corruption and address the problems facing the country,” he said.
Though the country had immense talent and resources and yet it was faced with rising unemployment, illiteracy, communal riots. Value based politics was the only answer to these problems. “The WPI would work for elimination of corruption, casteism, discrimination and injustice,” Mr. Khan said and added that the party would work with not just Muslims but also Christians, Dalits and other religious minorities.
The real test of democracy, he said, depended on how a country treated its minorities. In India the biggest minority, Muslims, suffered from a feeling of insecurity. Though the Manmohan Singh government diagnosed the problem with the Sachar Committee but it had failed to carry out treatment, Mr. Khan said.
He said a paradigm shift was needed in the body politic and it called for a massive social awakening. The WPI was looking for individuals with clean record and flawless public service to meet the challenge of reforming the Indian politics.
