Express News Service By

CHENNAI:Prominent former members of Aam Admi Party (AAP) from Tamil Nadu, including the lone woman member in the national executive Christina Samy, have joined the Yogendra Yadav-Prashant Bhushan led Swaraj Abhiyan.

Yadav, a noted psephologist, and Bhushan, a Supreme Court lawyer and anti-corruption crusader, launched Swaraj Abhiyan as an organisation which would lead social movements on important causes affecting people. Yadav recently took part in the protests against the Land Acquisition Bill, rallying farmers in northern India. State executive member and ex-media co-ordinator for AAP V Sandhya, David Barun Kumar and K Balakrishnan are other prominent names who have joined Swaraj Abhiyan. “Though there were differences in the State unit, Yadav and Bhushan’s expulsion was the last straw. The party turned from a collective decision-making unit into a one-man show which wasn’t agreeable to many,” Balakrishnan said.

What disillusioned Balakrishnan and others was that the expulsion was announced even as some of the State members were in prison after protesting in front of the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam’s residence.

The dissenters had an issue with the alleged autocratic functioning of senior AAP leader Somnath Bharti, who has been made in charge of party affairs in Tamil Nadu. But not all who quit AAP in the last few months have joined Swaraj Abhiyan. A few including prohibition activist S Jahir Hussain have launched a separate outfit, that Balakrishnan said would offer issue-based support to Swaraj Abhiyan.

Terming itself as a political alternative, Swaraj Abhiyan has even attacked Arvind Kejriwal and AAP for siding with JD-U’s Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav, which is seen as a betrayal of the party’s original anti-graft movement.

Though Yadav himself has stated that the outfit will not contest elections, Balakrishnan has not ruled it out in future. “Our agenda would be to groom candidates believing in alternative politics who could contest as independents. Maybe in the long run, we might contest elections,” he said. A general body meeting to pick the working committee members is planned in Tamil Nadu on October 11, which will be presided over by Prashant Bhushan, said Balakrishnan.