Former women’s panel chief joins AAP

Bangalore: After corporate honchos, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has now caught the fancy of seasoned politicians. The latest to join is Phiolmena Peris, former chairperson of Karnataka State Commission for Women.

After joining the state unit of the party on Sunday she said she wanted to be the part of the system that aims to bring change in the country. “Corruption should be removed from our country and hence I want to support the younger generation to cleanse the system. Earlier, I had supported the Anna Hazare movement. Now, I want to support Arvind Kejriwal.”

Peris has been actively involved in politics for more than two decades and has served in all the three mainstream parties, namely BJP, Congress and JD(S). She had unsuccessfully contested from Bharatinagar constituency as BJP candidate in the 1994 Assembly elections. She has also served the Congress party and was former general secretary of JD(S).

“When I was part of the major political parties, I wanted to make a difference. But I realised I was too small to do that as there was corruption in every party,” she recalled.

Elaborating on her expectations from AAP, Peris said, “Bangalore is a city of youngsters. We all spoke about the lack of good leaders, but didn’t know what to do or where to go as there was nobody to lead us. We were waiting for someone to come forward and make the change. Now, there is a platform.”

She added that the party wants to create women-friendly environment in the city. “Women should be able to walk safely on the streets. Thousands of policemen walk behind ministers and MLAs, who are rapists and criminals. These policemen should come out for the help of women. Even today, it’s tough for us to walk up to a police station, as women are treated badly. This should change,” Peris said.