JOIN USAfter the ‘broom’ symbol of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the newly-floated Khas Aadmi Party (KAP), if the Election Commission permits, will adopt the symbol of ‘dustbin’.
Talking to reporters, KAP founder Mirza Dus Hazary, a tailor who once created sartorial styles for yesteryear filmstars like Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and others, including the crème de la crème of society like legal luminary Ram Jethmalani, said, “We have asked for ‘dustbin’ as a symbol as we want to focus on people who have been relegated to the dustbins by society.”
Saying that his party has nothing to do with the latest media fad, AAP, Hazary said his party wants to take up the cause of the downtrodden, weaker sections, “…and all those people who despite being the masses are invisible people.”
The tailor, who migrated from Faizabad (in Uttar Pradesh) 50 years ago and started his tailoring work in an outlet in Taj Mahal Hotel in Colaba, pointed out that he was not new to politics.
“I was actively involved with former union minister George Fernandes and Ram Jethmalani. I attended as well as addressed rallies, but then I realised at one point of time that their maxim was simple: ‘use and dump’…and it was then that I parted ways with them.”
As for his party, Hazary said the outfit has around half-a-million active members in Mumbai. “All of them belong to weaker sections of society and despite all social and economic odds are quietly making an honest living,” he said.
On being asked to spell out his plans for the electoral battle, he said the party will be putting up candidates later this year during the state assembly polls.