Srinagar, March 17: Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2019, former IAS officer Shah Faesal launched his own political outfit - the Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM). One of the major names to join his new party is Shehla Rashid, an activist best known for her stint as the vice-president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU).

The event to launch Faesal's party was held in Rajbagh area of Srinagar on Sunday. At the inaugural address, the ex-bureaucrat said he was compelled to pursue the political path as it had the means to effectively improve the lives of common civilians in both Jammu and Kashmir. Why Shah Faesal Resigned From Civil Service?

The 2010 batch UPSC topper resigned from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in January this year to protest unabated killings in Kashmir and marginalisation of Indian Muslims.

Faesal had also hit out at the Centre, accusing it of subverting public institutions of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

He said such moves had the potential to decimate the constitutional edifice of the country and the same needed to be stopped.

Since resigning from the service, the former bureaucrat has been interacting with young achievers with an aim of getting them to support his initiative for "corruption-free, clean and transparent" politics in the state.

He had also launched a crowdfunding campaign in January to support his initiative. Several youngsters and aspiring politicians are expected to join Faesal's political outfit.

(With PTI inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 17, 2019 05:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).