AAP offers anti-corruption helpline; Jamaat lends support

DELHI: Delhi’s chief minister announced on Wednesday a helpline that would help the common man fight corruption in India’s capital.

Addressing a press conference in his office complex, Arvind Kejriwal, 45, gave the helpline number (011-27357169) and said that people can now use to report corrupt practices by any wing of the state government.

He said the announcement made every Delhi citizen an anti-corruption inspector, and added that the purpose is to create fear in the minds of every corrupt individual.

Announcing that the helpline will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. everyday, Kejriwal said: “We are in the process of acquiring a four-digit helpline number which is easier to remember.”

Corruption was the Aam Aadmi Party’s biggest plank in the runup to the Delhi Assembly elections.

Meanwhile, India’s influential Muslim group Jamaat-e-Islami (Hind) has endorsed Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party and appealed to the Muslim community to support the party.

The JIH also asked the community to shun the Congress, a move likely to worry the grand old party that is counting on minorities to stem anti-incumbency.

“Muslims now strongly feel they should reconsider their position regarding Congress,” Hindustan Times quoted Jamaat’s secretary-general Nusrat Ali as saying.

The Jamaat, like many Muslim organizations, was initially cagey in its support for the anti-corruption agitation led by Anna Hazare and Kejriwal, preferring to adopt a wait-and-watch policy.

But virtually endorsing AAP, the Jamaat said the 15-month-old party had emerged as a new alternative.