Former Tehelka journo joins AAP, to contest from New Delhi

Electoral politics is the most effective way to reach to the common masses, says noted investigative journalist, Ashish Khetan, after joining Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The party announced his candidature March 10 when it came out with its fourth list of candidates for 61 constituencies.

Ashish Khetan will be contesting from New Delhi

The journo will be contesting from New Delhi, putting an end to all speculations that the party head, Arvind Kejriwal might contest from that constituency.

In an exclusive interview to The Weekend Leader, Khetan, founder Editor Gulail, online news portal, known for his investigative reporting and sting operations, said, “Today the most effective way to reach out to the common masses is through electoral politics.”

Khetan has previously worked with various news organizations like Headlines Today and Tehelka.

He is known for his investigative reporting, particularly in the Godhra (Gujarat) incident and the illegal surveillance of a woman architect carried out by the Gujarat government.

He says Aam Aadmi Party, is not just a political party, but it is a kind of political resolution, a political resilience.

“I am joining it as it is the only party that fights communalism and corruption. It is the only party that can bring honesty and sincerity back in politics.”

Emphasizing that politics has become hostage to wealth and power, Khetan said this is the biggest reason why most of the problems concerning the common masses don’t get solved and there is growing disparity among haves and have nots and rate of corruption and communalism has gone up.

“There is corrupt politics all around and the Aam Aadmi Party will take all the traditional political parties head on,” says the journalist turned politician.

He stated that journalism occupies an important space in the democratic set-up. “Main function of journalism is dissemination of free and fair information. But in our case, we are in politics when we are journalists.”

He further added, “We are in politics even as journalists, but now I am directly involved with the politics.”

The Gulail website will continue to function, he said.

Though politics would be his main priority, he said, he would certainly continue to write and work on the issues concerning the masses at grass root level.

Khetan alleged that BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi’s Gujarat development projection is a false claim, but very few journalists are questioning it and telling the truth as it is.