Arvind Kejriwal, "With elections around the corner, I am confident that the energy that students bring to our campaign will carry our message to more voters."
Berkeley, California, USA (PRWEB) November 07, 2013
In an unprecedented outpouring of support, students in over forty universities in the US, Canada, UK, Hungary and Singapore have joined a network of volunteers who are supporting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Launched in September 2013, the network has quickly grown to over 40 universities where students are taking time from their graduate studies to volunteer for AAP and make financial contributions.
"I am excited about the network of university students. Undoubtedly, the youth have a critical role in shaping India's future. It’s heartening to see them step up and get actively involved in the democratic process. I congratulate the students on their initiative, commitment and love for India. With elections around the corner, I am confident that the energy that students can bring to our campaign will help carry our message to more voters," said Arvind Kejriwal, National Convener, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
"The students are inspired by Arvind Kejriwal and AAP. The opportunity to remove corruption and improve lives of common people in India - the central tenets of AAP, are energizing the students and young professional communities around the world," said Shail Kumar, organizer and co-founder of the network. "These students want to make an impact in India. Arvind Kejriwal's credentials, track record, vision, courage and honesty and AAP's messages are resonating with the students," he added. Shail is the Past-President of IIT Foundation.
The students are hosting hangouts and events for AAP, making phone calls and donating money. Most of these are graduate students who are typically constrained for time and money. Yet, the opportunity to make an impact by supporting AAP is so compelling that they are giving both time and money. Many of these students were also involved in the India Against Corruption movement and are especially supportive of Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to form a political party.
"The Anna movement in 2011 inspired me. I always supported the idea that to change the system we need to get in it and the formation of AAP provided me a perfect opportunity to support such an action," said Raj Shekhar Singh, a graduate student at UC Berkeley and one of the co-founders of the network. Raj is a donor for AAP and also hosted the Hangout in Berkeley, California. He grew up in Bokaro Steel City, Jharkhand and completed his undergraduate degree from IIT Kharagpur. "I am supporting and contributing to AAP to realize my dream - that India has a transparent and accountable polity which serves its citizens and it regains its position among the leading nations of this world by realizing its true potential," he added.
Suma Jaini, co-founder of the network and a PhD candidate at Boston University. She said - "In the present era, where people can only think of how much money they can make, I was really moved when I learned about Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Pary with its primary goal of being able to eradicate corruption from the nation. I really hope AAP wins the upcoming elections and establishes the govt. in Delhi." Suma grew up in Hyderabad and completed B.Tech (Hons.) and M.Tech from IIT Kharagpur.
Abhishek Sharma, a donor and volunteer for AAP hails from Varanasi, completed his undergraduate degree from IIT Roorkee and is currently a PhD student at the University of Maryland, College Park. He recently invited many people to listen to Arvind Kejriwal via Google Hangout at his home and encouraged several others to host similar Hangouts. "In 2011, I was awakened by the IAC movement. Now, I will be contributing time, money and social skills to strengthen and spread the message of AAP, so that my daughter can safely bicycle to school, my father can get his pension without bribing a babu and I can work without the fear of getting suspended for my honesty," said Abhishek. He goes on to say, "I support AAP, because democracy is of aam admi, by aam admi and for aam admi. Only AAP brings aam admi in this picture," he added.
The student network has quickly grown to include students from over 40 universities in North America, Europe and Asia. These include renowned universities such as UC Berkeley, UT Austin, University of Iowa, Texas A&M, Boston University and MIT in the US, McGill University in Canada, University of Cambridge in UK and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
More information about AAP is available at http://www.aamaadmiparty.org.