DHAKA: India’s new anti-graft party has signed up tens of thousands of members in a nationwide recruitment drive as it seeks to build support ahead of general elections.

An official said on Saturday, reports The Straits Times.

The Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party plans to contest seats in the general elections due by May following its success in the Delhi state polls last month in which it routed the scandal-tainted Congress party that rules at the national level.

‘We had nearly 50,000 people sign up in the first three hours of our membership drive,’ senior party leader Gopal Rai told media.

The party is spearheaded by Arvind Kejriwal, a 44-year-old former taxman who has modelled himself as an anti-corruption activist and is now the chief minister of Delhi.

BDST: 1638 HRS, JAN 11, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor