Over 300 from Rajasthan join platform of Shashi Tharoor

Over 300 professionals and taxpayers in Rajasthan have got the membership of All India Professionals Congress (AIPC), a political platform headed by former union minister and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

Tharoor in August last year had announced the initiative to rope in professionals and taxpayers into mainstream politics. To avail membership of the forum, the party has fixed a fee of Rs1,000 which can only be paid online. It appears that paid membership has deterred professionals to get associated with the platform as so far around 300 people have only applied for it.

But the leaders heading the platform have a different take. “The aim of the platform is to engage selected professionals and taxpayers, and the intention is not to create a gathering of a sort,” said a leader associated with the AIPC. Rajasthan AIPC is currently being headed by Rukshmani Kumari.

The AIPC is functioning as a decentralised platform with city or town level chapters as the basic building blocks and each chapter has been set up through the web. It is a new avenue for someone who is not currently very active in politics but is willing to get involved in the workings of INC. “Headed by Tharoor, the Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s brainchild programme is taking shape in metros, tier-II and tier-III cities,” added the leader.